AC Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community and specialist housing. It provides a service to adults and older people, including people living with dementia who live in their own homes. There were fifty three people using the service. At the time of the inspection the office location on our register was Pure Offices, 26 Bridge Street East, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1HL however the service was operating from1st Floor Venture House,5 & 6 Silver Court,Welwyn Garden City,AL7 1LT. The provider had submitted an application.

AC Homecare has been without a registered manager since January 2018. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

We undertook an announced inspection of AC Homecare initially on 14 August 2018 in response to whistleblowing and concerns raised about the lack of robust staff recruitment, staff training and the behaviour of the manager, who had been in place since January 2018.

We found that nine of the staff employed since January 2018 had not received any training nor correct pre- employment checks or DBS before supporting people in the community. These nine staff had to be removed immediately from working until all checks and training had been completed.

We found the manager had been dismissed from the agency on 10 August 2018.The manager had replaced the original care plans with an electronic system of care plans for staff to access. However not all information had been transferred and assessments of risks to people were not completed. People said they did not have access to care staff’s daily notes and health professionals could not access peoples medicine records.

At our last inspection on 26 May 2017 the service was rated requires improvement as further developments were needed in the assessments of activities or areas that could pose a risk to people as there was insufficient information to inform staff how to manage situations. At this inspection we found there was still insufficient information to inform staff how to manage potential risks to help maintain people’s safety.

There was a lack of systems for the provider to assess the quality and effectiveness of the management and of the service. The systems in place were reliant on the manager to complete. Systems in place for the provider to assess the quality and effectiveness of the service were ineffective as they had not identified the concerns ..

The provider responded to our findings in an open and transparent way and was committed to remedy the situation and began a significant amount of work to achieve this. The provider took on the management role of the agency together with the care supervisors to ensure that people received care and were safe. They informed Hertfordshire County Council who supported the agency by arranging the care of ten people to ensure their care needs were met.

Since the first day of the inspection the provider and care supervisors staff worked on completing assessments of areas of risks for people. They ensured each person had a folder with their care plan and information about the agency and put in place a medicine booklet to record current medicines and any allergies.

Whilst staff were suspended from active working and awaiting full employment and DBS checks they undertook training and once they received DBS and their other employment checks, they shadowed staff and before working alone were signed off as competent in their level of training .

People and their relatives said they felt safe with the care staff and that their privacy, dignity, and independence was respected and promoted.

People told us staff always asked for their

This inspection was carried out on 25 April and 2 May 2017 and was announced.

This was the service's first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission on 29 April 2016.

A C Homecare provides personal care for people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 53 people were receiving a service from them.

The service had a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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.

We found further developments were needed in the assessments of activities or areas that could pose a risk to people as they were not always detailed or contained sufficient information to inform staff how to manage situations. However, staff were clear on their role and how to keep people safe.

People’s consent was sought before care was offered and the registered manager and staff were familiar with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a healthy diet and health professionals were contacted on people’s behalf if needed.

People were treated with dignity and respect.

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People who used the service and their relatives told us the service was flexible and able to meet their needs. People's care and support needs were kept under review to help ensure that they continued to be met.

People who used the service felt confident to raise any concerns and were confident that they would be managed appropriately. Staff said that they were fully supported by the registered manager.

People's views about the service provision were gathered regularly to help the registered manager assure themselves that the service they provided was safe and was meeting people's needs

There was a culture of openness and inclusion at the service and staff said that the registered manager inspired them to deliver a quality service. People who used the service and their relatives spoke positively about the registered manager and said the service was well run.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.