Updated 10 May 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
One inspector and one assistant inspector carried out the inspection on 10 April. The second visit on 24 April 2019 was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type:
Wynters Care and Support is a domiciliary care agency which means it provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It is also registered to provide supported living services. These services were either flats or shared houses. All had staff offices and staff were on site 24 hours a day to provide support when required.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means 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 the inspection, the registered manager was absent, but we spoke with the operations manager who had assumed overall responsibility for the management of the service.
Notice of inspection:
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the management team is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection site visit activity started on 10 April 2019 and ended on 24 April 2019. We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. Telephone calls were made to people using the service and their relatives on the 09 and 10 April 2019.
What we did:
We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered with us. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. The local authority had notified us that the service had been temporarily suspended due to concerns about lack of governance and lack of progress made against quality improvement plans.
The provider had completed the required Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information providers must send us to give us key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this information into account in making our judgements in this report.
We contacted people and/or their relatives by telephone on 09 and 10 April 2019 and spoke with eight people and two relatives to gather their views on the service being delivered. We also spoke with the provider, the operations manager, the care supervisor, seven care staff and one visiting professional. We used this information to form part of our judgement.
We looked at six people’s care records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included four recruitment files to check suitable staff members were recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service.