Updated 23 February 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
This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert 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 homes.
At the time of the inspection, the service did not have a registered manager. This means the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The current manager of the service had applied to register with CQC.
Notice of inspection
The inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider, or a manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity was carried out between 24 January and 7 February 2022. We visited the office on 24 January as part of our site visit. Further inspection activity was completed via telephone and by email, including speaking with people who used the service, relatives and reviewing additional evidence and information sent to us by the provider.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who worked with the service, including Bolton local authority. 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, service manager, care coordinator and four care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records, a selection of medicine administration records and three staff recruitment files. A variety of other records relating to the management of the service were also considered as part of the inspection.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found following our site visit.