Updated 13 June 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, one assistant inspector and one 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. Their area of expertise is older people and dementia care.
Service and service type: The service is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to older people and younger adults, including people living with dementia and mental health, physical disability and sensory impairment and learning disability. There were 42 people using the service at the time of the inspection.
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: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or people. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection site visit activity started on 24 April 2019 and ended on 17 May 2019. We visited the office location on 30 April 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made calls to people on 24 April 2019 and made calls to staff on 17 May 2019.
What we did: Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.
We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the provider is required to tell us about. We contacted health and social care commissioners who monitor the care and support people receive... We also contacted Healthwatch an independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public. Healthwatch plays a role at both national and local level and makes sure that the views of the public and people who use services are considered.
During the inspection we spoke with nine people who used the service and six relatives. We had discussions with nine staff members including the registered manager, quality assurance manager, area manager and six care staff.
We looked at the care records of six people who used the service. We also viewed records in relation to the management of the service such as staff recruitment files, quality assurance checks, staff training and supervision records, safeguarding information and accidents and incident information. We looked at compliments and thank you cards from people and their relatives.