This inspection took place on 28 November 2017 and was announced. We gave the registered manager notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because 24/7 Care Services provide personal care for people who live in their own homes and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office.

At our last inspection on 17 January 2017 we found two breaches of legal requirements which were, good governance and, failing to notify CQC of statutory notifications. Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the service. At this inspection we saw improvements had been made and the provider was now meeting the legal requirements.

At the last inspection we rated the service as requires improvement in three key questions which were, safe, effective and well-led. This was because the registered manager had not understood their responsibilities for reporting safeguarding concerns to the CQC, their responsibilities for ensuring they practiced in-line with The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and did not have robust checks in place to ensure the service was delivering high quality care. We found the improvements the registered manager had put in place had now been sufficient to rate these key questions as good.

24/7 Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. They provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. They provide a service to older adults, younger disabled adults, and people who have dementia. At the time of our inspection 17 people received personal care in their own homes.

Not everyone using 24/7 Care Service receives the regulated activity, personal care. CQC only inspects the service which provides ‘personal care’ to people, such as, help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection; the registered manager was also the provider of the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they received safe care, relatives who we spoke with felt staff were trained to support their family members in a way which kept them safe. Staff demonstrated good knowledge in how they were to protect people from harm. Staff recognised the signs of abuse and knew how to report this. The registered manager had identified potential risks to people and had put plans in place to support staff to reduce the risk to people without taking away people’s right to make decisions about their care. People and relatives told us the registered manager ensured there were enough staff to support their care needs. Staff told us that because the service supported a small number of people, they were able to deliver safe care and support to people. People were supported with their medicines in a safe way.

People received care and support which met their needs and preferences and was in line with their consent and agreement, and staff understood the importance of this. We found people were supported to eat a healthy diet which was tailored to their individual preferences. Staff worked with external healthcare professionals and where necessary followed their guidance and advice about how to support the person in the right way.

People’s views and decisions they had made about their care were listened to and staff acted upon these in a dignified and respectful way. Relatives felt the staff team treated their family members in a kind and friendly way, which was done so respectfully.

The registered manager had provided people with information around how to raise a

This inspection took place on 19 January 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

24-7 Care Services provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

This was the first inspection of this service since it was registered in January 2016.

The provider was not keeping us informed of incidents that they are required to inform us about.

People received a service in which they had confidence. However, the appropriate processes were not in place to ensure consistent monitoring of the service and to ensure people received a service that was consistently well led.

Safe procedures were not in place to fully assess the risks associated with people’s care. This included assessing the risks of supporting people with their medicines and taking into account all risks associated with offering care and support to people.

People were not fully supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, so that they could be assured they were support in the least restrictive way possible. This was because, where people were not able to make informed decisions about their care the correct process was not in place to support them and staff were not trained to ensure they fully understood how to fully protect people’s rights.

People were supported to maintain their diet and health needs where required. Staff were caring and people’s privacy, dignity, independence and individuality was respected and promoted by staff and the management.

People received a reliable service, there were sufficient numbers of staff to ensure people’s needs were met and that care visits were not missed. The provider mostly undertook the relevant checks before staff were employed and people were complimentary about the quality of the staff that supported them. However, minor improvements were needed in the recruitment process to ensure only suitable staff were always employed in the future.

People were confident that staff had the skills to meet their individual needs and support them in the way they wanted. We found that staff had received most of the training they needed to meet the needs of people that used the service. Staff felt supported in their role; however, a more formal process for the frequency of how staff are supported needed to be put in place, to ensure staff remained effective in their role.

People were able to raise their concerns or complaints and their complaints were acted upon, so people could be confident they would be listened to and their concerns resolved to their satisfaction.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.