Updated 19 May 2022
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one Expert by Experience who spoke with people and their relatives on the telephone. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
This service also provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave notice of the inspection. We needed to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to arrange to speak with people over the phone.
Inspection activity started on 16 March 2022 and ended on the 24 March 2022. We visited the office location on the 21 and 22 March 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from four professionals who work with the service. We received one response from a professional.
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 13 people and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, two team leaders, two branch staff and one care staff. Following the inspection, we contacted seven staff and managed to gain views from two.
We reviewed a range of records. This included eight care plans and two medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and two staff files in relation to spot checks, supervision and appraisal records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, incidents and accidents, safeguarding records, written compliments, action plans, and feedback were also reviewed.