The inspection was announced and took place on 11, 12 and 19 October 2016.

The service had not been inspected previously.

Able Living Services provides care and support to people aged 18 and over, older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities in their own homes. The agency operates from premises in the village of Poynton.

Able Living Services has a registered manager in post, who also provided personal care to people. 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 inspection focussed on the domiciliary care provided by Able Living Services. This service currently provides personal care and support for fourteen people within their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service offered support to 35 people, however only fourteen people received care and support which involved an activity the provider was registered for with the Care Quality Commission.

The people who used the service and their relatives told us that they were treated with respect and kindness by the staff. Comments included, “They respect my wishes and commands. They do things exactly as I like. They notice little things” and “They are really lovely, they are interested in me, not just in and out and they remember facts about me”. People told us that the staff were always on time.

There were sufficient staff to complete the visits scheduled for each person and the manager did not accept any additional visits if she did not have the staff in place to complete these. Travel time was factored into staff schedules and they had sufficient time to move between visits. Visit times were recorded in the daily records and these were checked each week by the senior carer and people knew to contact the office with any problems. No concerns had been made to the provider about missed calls.

Arrangements were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. We spoke to staff about their understanding of safeguarding and they knew what to do if they suspected that someone was at risk of abuse or they saw signs of abuse. People using the service reported that they felt safe and their relatives told us that they were confident that their relatives were safe and supported by the staff of Able Living Care Services.

We looked at recruitment files for the most recently appointed staff members to check that effective recruitment procedures had been completed. We found that appropriate checks had been made to ensure that they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults.

The care files that we looked at contained the detailed relevant information that staff needed to care for the person including their preferences. It was clear through discussions with staff that they knew the people they were supporting very well. It was a small organisation which meant that people generally were supported by a consistent team of carers that enabled them to build up positive relationships.

Discussions with staff members identified that they felt happy and supported in their roles. They told us that the registered manager was supportive and they felt that they could contact her and approach her at any time.

The service had a quality assurance system in place which used various checks and audit tools such as audits and spot checks to monitor and review the practices within the service. The manager also sought feedback from the people who used the service. The registered manager was passionate about the service and constantly looking at different ways in which systems and processes could be improved.