Updated 1 April 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector who made telephone calls to staff and those using the service and their relatives.
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. The visit took place on 18 February 2021 at the office location site visit to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included checking incidents the provider must notify us about, such as serious injuries and abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the provider and reviewed a range of records. This included all or parts of records relating to the care of nine people as well a range of staff files. We also viewed training records and records relating to the safety and management of the service.
After the inspection
We asked the registered person to provide us with a variety of additional information. All information was sent within the required timeframe. We used all this information to help form our judgements detailed within this report. We spoke with seven people and three relatives and asked them about the quality of the care provided to them or their family members. We spoke with eight care staff.