Updated 12 February 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
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 homes. 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
This inspection was announced, this was to ensure someone would be in the office to assist us with the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 28 January 2020 when we phoned people using the service, where they were unable to speak with us we spoke with people’s relatives. We then visited the office location on 29 January 2020 where we spoke with the provider and looked through records. We made phone calls to staff on 30 January 2020.
What we did before the inspection
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. However, we gave the provider the opportunity to share with us information and this was included as part of the inspection. We looked at other information received from the provider, such as statutory notifications about events the provider must notify us about. We took all the information into account when we inspected the service and making the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person and three relatives prior to visiting the agency offices. We reviewed the care records for two people using the service, and other records relating to the management oversight of the service, such as staff training and medication records, staff rotas, incident recording and complaints.
Following the inspection
We made phone calls to two staff employed by the service and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence we found on inspection. The information which the provider sent has been used in the report.