Updated 7 April 2020
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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. The registered manager was not present during the inspection.
Notice of inspection
Inspection activity started on 12 February 2020 and ended on 26 February 2020. We informed the provider that we had started the inspection on 12 February 2020 and requested information relating to good governance. We informed them of when the site visit would take place. We visited the office location on 25 February 2020.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make or have made since the last inspection. This information helps support our inspections.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with ten people who use the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the service manager, locality leads, scheduling officers and support workers. We received feedback from five health and social care professionals who worked alongside the service.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, risk assessments and medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed a variety of records related to the management and quality assurance of the service.
After the inspection
We spoke with two members of staff. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at governance and quality assurance records.