Updated 21 May 2021
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 two inspectors 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, bungalows and flats. The 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 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.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission at the time of our inspection. The previous registered manager had left in February 2020. The provider had appointed a manager and they were in the process of applying for registration. This had been delayed due to events outside of the provider’s control. Registered managers are 'registered persons'. 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. The provider and senior managers maintained oversight of the quality of the service.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 10 March 2021 and ended on 21 April 2021. We visited the office location on 10 March 2021 and the extra care housing complex on 17 March 2021. We contacted people who used the service and staff by telephone and email after our visits.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three members of the management team and looked at the care records for nine people. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We contacted four people who used the service and the relatives of 25 people who used the service to gather their views. We also contacted nine care staff to gather their views of the service. We reviewed additional evidence we had asked the provider to send us.