Updated 17 March 2020
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
The inspection team consisted of one inspector, one assistant inspector and two Experts by Experience. 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. 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 the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with 16 relatives and 21 people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff, the provider and the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures. were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.