Updated 15 May 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:
The inspection was completed by one adult social care 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. The Expert by Experience had experience of caring for older people.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. It provides care to both older and younger people. The service had two managers registered with the Care Quality Commission, one of whom was responsible for the day to day management of the service. The other was a senior manager in the company. 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 start of inspection activity. Inspection site visit activity started on 26 April 2019 with telephone calls to people who used the service. It ended on 29 April 2019. We visited the office location on 29 April 2019 to speak with the registered manager and staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Prior to the inspection the provider sent us a Provider Information Return. Providers are required to send us information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed information we held about the service, for example, statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.
Prior to the site visit we spoke with eight people and one relative to gain their views of the service provided. We requested information about the service from two professionals and spoke with a commissioner of the service. During the site visit we spoke to three care staff, the care team administrator and one of the registered managers. We reviewed care plans, daily records, medicine records and rosters for four people and files for three staff.