This announced comprehensive inspection was conducted at the provider’s office on 30 May 2018 and was the first comprehensive inspection since the provider registered this location in February 2017. We had carried out an inspection in November 2015 at the provider’s previous location where we found that the provider was meeting legal requirements. The overall rating of the service was Good. Safe, caring, responsive and well-led had been rated as Good and effective had been rated as Requires Improvement. We had found the provider had not demonstrated that staff were provided with formal training to understand the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). At this inspection we found that staff had received training in this topic and arrangements had been made for new staff to attend relevant training.

All Star Care is a domiciliary care agency which provides the regulated activity of ‘personal care’ to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people with physical disabilities, people with mental health needs and people living with dementia who reside in Surrey and Sussex. Not everyone using All Star Care receives regulated activity, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection the provider was providing services for nine people, which included four people who received personal care. None of the people using the service for personal care received funding from the local authority. One person received continuing health care funding, and other people used direct payments and self-funding arrangements.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection, who was the proprietor of the company. A registered manager is a person who has registered with 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. The registered manager was present during the inspection and is also the proprietor of the service. At the time of the inspection the registered manager was carrying out personal care visits to people who used the service in the mornings and managing the service at other times. This was a temporary arrangement.

People who used the service reported that they felt safe and comfortable with staff. The provider ensured that people received a punctual service from properly trained staff that they knew well. There were sufficient care workers deployed to cover periods of authorised leave and unforeseen circumstances when staff were unable to attend work. However the staff recruitment was not consistently thorough, for example two members of staff had only one reference each and the registered manager’s discussions with staff about any gaps in their employment was not consistently recorded.

There were systems in place to assess risks to people’s safety although one risk assessment did not have sufficient guidance for staff to ensure they effectively promoted the safety of the person. Staff received medicines training and medicine records were checked by the registered manager to ensure that staff correctly adhered to the provider’s medicines policy. People were protected from the risk of infection as staff followed infection control protocols.

Staff were provided with mandatory training and other specific training to meet the needs of people who used the service. This included training to care for people who were frail and at the end stage of their lives. The staff member we spoke with felt well supported by the registered manager, however the registered manager informed us that the frequency of one to one formal supervisions had reduced since she too