Updated 12 June 2019
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 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 houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. At the time of the inspection there were 11 people using the service.
The service had two managers 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 visit because it is small, and the registered managers are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection took place on 24 and 30 April. It included telephone calls to people and relatives to gain feedback about the service and telephone calls to staff who provided support to people. We visited the office location on 30 April 2019 to see the registered managers and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
We used the information we held about the service to plan our inspection. This included notifications about events that had happened at the service, which the provider was required to send us by law. For example, serious injuries and safeguarding incidents that had occurred at the service.
We spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives to gain their experiences of the service provided. We spoke with three staff and the registered managers who are also the providers.
We viewed five people’s care records to confirm what people and staff had told us. We also looked at documents that showed how the service was managed which included induction and training records for staff employed at the service and records that showed how the service was monitored by the registered managers.