Affinity Trust Domiciliary Care Agency East Sussex is a domiciliary care service based in St Leonards on Sea. However, support provided is in the Hailsham area. The service provides support and personal care to people with learning disabilities in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting nine people with a variety of health and social needs. People had varied needs and required support with autism, epilepsy and behaviours that challenged.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 29 and 30 August 2017 and was announced. This was the first inspection carried out since the service was registered in September 2015.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 and staff spoke positively about the service and the support provided to them. The organisation had systems to monitor and review the quality of the care and support provided and some areas of record keeping had been identified before our inspection. We too assessed there were some areas of quality assurance where further development was needed and we made recommendations in relation to the quality of some record keeping.

People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect. They said they were looked after well. People knew who to speak with if they had any concerns or worries.

There were good systems for the management of medicines that ensured people who needed support were given this safely. There was information in care plans about how people liked to take their medicines. Staff had received training on medicines and there were systems to monitor their competency in this area.

Staff attended regular supervision meetings and told us they were very well supported by the management of the agency. Staff meetings were used to ensure staff were kept up to date and to hear their views on day to day issues. Staff attended regular training to ensure they could meet people’s needs. There was a thorough induction to the service and staff felt confident to meet people’s needs before they worked independently.

The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The MCA and DoLS are regulations that have to be followed to ensure people who cannot make decisions for themselves are protected. They also ensured people were not having their freedom restricted or deprived unnecessarily.

Care plans gave staff detailed advice and guidance on how to meet people’s needs. People told us they had been involved as part of the process. Care plans were reviewed regularly and as and when people’s needs changed. If professional advice and support was sought then this was included within the documentation.

Risk assessments were carried out in relation to people’s homes and to their individual needs and where necessary actions were taken to mitigate risks to reduce the risk of accidents or injuries.

There was good leadership in the home and staff knew they could speak with the registered manager or site manager whenever they needed to.