Updated 7 September 2023
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 carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience who made phone calls to people and families for feedback about the service. 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. When we initially rang the service the provider, who was also the registered manager, was unavailable. We rearranged the office visit and also asked them to send us information electronically before our visit.
Inspection activity started on 18 July 2023 and ended on 4 August 2023. We visited the location’s office on 26 July 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service, including information from a monitoring phone call we carried out with the service in October 2022. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked 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 the registered manager, the care manager and a member of staff who helped with rotas and provided care. We had contact or met with 3 senior care staff and 4 care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and 3 staff files. We looked at a sample of the service’s quality assurance systems including medication and care plan audits.
Following the office visit, we continued to seek further clarification from the registered manager and signposted them for guidance to the local authority quality team. We had contact with 7 people using the service and 3 relatives.