Updated 12 September 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
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 48 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 20 August 2019 and ended on 28 August 2019. We visited the office location on 20 August 2019.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we already held about the service in terms of notifications they had submitted to us. Notifications are information about events which providers are required by law to inform us about. We sought feedback from the local authority where the service is based.
The provider did not complete the Provider Information Return because they were not delivering any regulated activities when this was requested. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account in making our judgements in this report.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
During the inspection we reviewed care files of two people who were receiving personal care, including care plans, risk assessments and records of care. We reviewed staff files including recruitment, training and supervision records. We also reviewed various meeting minutes, documents and policies relevant to the management of the service. We both with a manager and the registered manager.
After we had visited the office we spoke with relatives of two people who received a service. We also spoke with three care workers.