Updated 25 December 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
One inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager was also registered as the nominated individual. A nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 72 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 15 November 2019 and ended on 28 November 2019. We visited the office location on 18 November 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration with the CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke over the telephone with one person and two relatives who used the service about their experience of the care provided. During the inspection process we spoke with four care staff over the telephone and received three emails from care staff, who gave their feedback about the service. During our visit to the service office we spoke with the care coordinator and the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included sampling two people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and quality assurance reports, policies and procedures and surveys.