Updated 13 March 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:
Our inspection was completed by a single 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 in the community. It provides a service to people of all ages who are deafblind living in Peterborough and Lincolnshire. This service also provides care and support to people living in two supported living settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
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:
• Our inspection was announced.
• We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager 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 took place between 22 November 2018 and 23 November 2018. We visited both supported living properties to see the care people received and to access records and speak to staff. We also visited the office location on 22 November 2018 to see the registered manager and to review care records of people using the domiciliary care service and policies and procedures.
What we did:
• Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, and local authorities.
• We asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
• We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about.
• We observed the care at the supported living homes and also spoke with the relatives of a person living at one of the homes.
• We spoke with the registered manager, the manager of the domiciliary care service and two members of care staff.
• We looked at a range of documents and written records including four people’s care files and two staff recruitment records. We also looked at information relating to the administration of medicines and the auditing and monitoring of service provision.