Updated 25 February 2022
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 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.
The service did not have a registered manager with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This means the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The nominated individual had applied to become the registered manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave a short notice of the inspection because we wanted to contact people to gather their views and needed their consent to do that, and also to ensure the provider would be in the office when we attended.
Inspection activity started on 15 November and ended on 14 December 2021. We visited the office location on 15 and 18 November 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority commissioning and safeguarding teams, care professionals who worked with the service 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 all of this information to plan our inspection.
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.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the nominated individual and contacted all staff working for the organisation for their views.
We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff records in relation to recruitment, training and staff support. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, various evidence presented and quality assurance records. We contacted four care managers/social workers, two occupational therapists and the local district nursing team for their feedback about the service.