Updated 29 September 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
The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.
An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people’s relatives.
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.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 28 June 2022 and ended on 1 July 2022. We visited the location’s office on 29 June 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the nominated individual, director and manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed four care plans and risk assessments of people living at the service and medicine administration records.
We reviewed three staff files, and also a variety of policies, procedures and documents.
We spoke with six staff members.
We also spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives to understand their experiences.
Following the inspection we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate our findings.