Updated 1 April 2022
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 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 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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 16 March 2022 and ended on 17 March 2022. We visited the location’s office on 17 March 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since it had registered with us. We also gathered feedback from the local authority. Local authorities, together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality.
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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives or visitors about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including, the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included people’s care records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service, including procedures and governance records.