Updated 13 January 2023
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 carried out by an inspector and 2 Experts 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.
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 a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 29 November 2022 and ended on 20 December 2022.
What we did before the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls and questionnaires to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. 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 20 relatives and 12 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, who was also nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 care plans and associated medication records. We looked at 8 staff recruitment files, staff training records and records associated with the provider's quality monitoring systems.