Updated 1 August 2019
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: This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience with an area of expertise in dementia care. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience contacted people and their relatives to seek feedback on people’s experience of using the service.
Service and service type: Community Response Team North is a domiciliary care agency. It provides responsive short term reablement and personal care to people in their own homes which included people living with dementia, mental health needs, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, older adults and younger adults.
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: This inspection was announced, and we gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of the inspection activity as we needed to be sure staff would be available. Office location visits took place on the 29 May and 03 June 2019 to speak with the registered manager, review care records and policies and procedures. This also included visits to four peoples home. Telephone contact with people and their relatives who use the service was completed on 31 May 2019 to gather feedback of people’s experiences of the care and support provided.
What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also considered information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection we gathered information from:
Six people using the service, including four home visits
Ten relatives
The registered manager
Five members of staff
Medicine Administration Records (MARS)
Care records for six people
Staff training records
Four staff records including recruitment practices
After the inspection we gathered information from:
Telephone contact with two care staff
Feedback from one local authority social care professional