What to expect during an inspection
Find out what an inspection is like, who our inspectors
are, and how we involve people who use services in the
inspection.
About our inspectors
CSCI inspectors are experienced social care or
health care workers.
Many have been senior managers of care services, have a
background in nursing or social work or hold another professional
qualification.
They are trained in inspection and work to an agreed code of
conduct.
When an inspector arrives at your premises you should expect
them to be professional and courteous at all times.
Each inspector should carry their ID and authorisation card.
If you feel that an inspector has not behaved as you would
expect, you should talk to your local office or you can make a
formal complaint to us.
What to expect
The site visit will usually last one day, but may be more
depending on the size and nature of the service and the issues
arising.
Inspectors use a range of methods to gather evidence about how
well your service meets the needs of people who use it.
This includes talking to people who use the service and
observing their interaction with staff where appropriate.
We also look at the environment and facilities provided and
check records such as care plans and risk assessments.
For key inspection visits we will concentrate on how well the
service performs against the outcomes for the 'key' national
minimum standards for each type of service and how the users
experience the service.
The key standards are shown in inspection reports.
The inspection will explore whether you offer people who use
your service the lifestyle, choice, participation and appropriate
health or social care to meet their needs.
The inspector will look at evidence to help them assess how
people experience your service. They will spend time with people
who receive the service and will also speak to your staff.
They will clarify any points the inspection raises with you, and
discuss your plans to develop and improve your service.
The inspector will let you know what their report is likely to
say before they leave, and clarify any areas that require immediate
attention.
The report may comment on additional matters that your inspector
has noticed after the site visit when they assess all the evidence
they have gathered.
How we involve people who use services
We think it is important that the views and experiences of
people using services and their friends, families and advocates are
taken into account when reaching a judgment on the quality of a
service.
We have improved how we do this.
Here are some examples of how we try to understand how people
experience the service:
Case tracking
This is a way of inspecting that helps us to look at services
from the point of view some of the people who use them.
We track people's care to see whether the service meets their
individual needs.
Observational tools
Our inspectors use a tool called the Short Observational
Framework for Inspection (SOFI).
We use this to help us understand the experiences of people
who are unable to tell us their views because of their cognitive or
communication impairments.
Communicating with people with a visual or hearing
impairment
We have given our inspectors guidance to help us engage
with people with visual and hearing impairments.
We developed it using research by the University of Brighton and
Darlington Association on Disability.
Darlington Association on Disability worked with inspectors and
managers of care homes and with deaf people and people with visual
impairments, to look at ways of improving communication between
inspectors and people who use services.
Both Darlington Association on Disability and the Royal
National Institute for Deaf People have agreed that the guidance
will help us gain people’s views.
Surveys
We use lots of surveys to help us reach a range of people who
have an interest in the quality of the service provided.
We can send surveys in different languages and communication
styles to make them accessible to more people.
We compare this information with other evidence that we have
gathered to form a judgement about the quality of the care
provided.
Our surveys include optional questions about equality and
diversity to help us understand how well the service is meeting the
needs of people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Where needed, we can provide a photo survey for people with
a learning disability.
Link residents
An important part of our inspection is asking residents for
their views about the home.
A link resident is a person in a home who will
distribute surveys to other residents, collect them in and then
send them back to the inspector.
This gives residents the opportunity of expressing their
opinions in an open way that is also confidential.
Involving 'Experts by experience' in inspections
People who have direct experience of using social care services,
including carers, are often good judges of whether
another service is working well for the people who are using
it.
So, people with experience of using a service help us with some
of our inspections.
We call these people Experts by experience.
They may accompany our inspectors for some of the time we visit
your service.
Their feedback will help us with our judgments and will be
reflected in our reports.