Updated 5 January 2021
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.
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 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we were aware management and office staff were working from home where possible, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and we wanted to ensure the registered manager would be present for the inspection visit. We also needed to seek information from the provider to enable us to contact people and their relatives to gather their views about the service.
Inspection activity started on 26 November and ended on 10 December 2020. We undertook a site visit to the agency’s office on 26 November 2020 and held virtual meetings with three members of the management team on 10 December 2020. We conducted individual telephone interviews with support staff on 2 December 2020. Further inspection activity was completed by telephone and email. This included speaking with people and their relatives and reviewing a range of information sent to us by the service.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service, including Doncaster and Barnsley local authorities. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
During the inspection visit to the agency office we spoke with the registered manager, and the care services director, who line manages the registered manager. We reviewed the records for four people who used the service. This included elements of their risk assessments, care plans, the day to day records of the care provided and medicines administered.
Further inspection activity was undertaken by telephone and email. This included speaking with 27 people who used the service and/or their relatives about their experience of the care provided. We conducted interviews with five members of the staff team by telephone and spoke with one person’s social worker.
We also reviewed a range of information provided to us by the service. This included records of staff recruitment, training and supervision. We looked at the Covid-19 risk assessment for the service. We saw recent quality assurance and safety audits. These included infection control and medicines audits, and the associated action plans. We also saw records of complaints, annual quality survey feedback and minutes of recent staff meetings.