We inspected this service on 7 December 2016. This was an announced inspection and we telephoned the provider two days prior to our inspection to ensure staff would be available to meet with us.

Always home Care is registered to support people with their personal care needs in the community. At the time of the inspection eight people were receiving personal care support.

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 were kept safe from harm because staff understood their responsibility to protect them from abuse and poor care. Risks which could affect people’s health and safety had been assessed and there were management plans in place to reduce the risk.

There were recruitment procedures in place to ensure staff were suitable to work within a caring environment. People were supported with or given their prescribed medicines in a safe manner.

Staff had access to training to improve their knowledge of care and enhance their skills. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to make choices for themselves. Staff ensured people had access to adequate food, drinks and healthcare professionals to support their health and wellbeing. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff developed relationships with people which recognised their independence and promoted their dignity and respect. People received personalised care because staff understood their likes, dislikes and preferences.

People were provided with information about raising concerns or complaints and were happy to speak with staff about their worries. People’s opinions were sought and they were involved in reviewing their care. Staff felt well supported and empowered to raise any concerns they had. There were processes in place to ensure the service improved when shortfalls were identified.

We carried out this inspection to check on the care and welfare of people who used this service.

We spoke with the registered manager and the care co-ordinator.

The registered manager told us that the service supported two people and had a staff team of three people.

After the inspection, we spoke with two members of staff and two relatives of people who used the service. People who used the service were unable to speak with us due to their health needs at the time of the inspection.

We found that people’s views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered in relation to their care and treatment.

One relative told us: “They deliver a wonderful caring service. I can’t praise them highly enough. I trust them implicitly”.

We found that the provider met the care and welfare needs of people who used the service.

We saw that there were safeguarding procedures in place at the service. The provider told us how the staff were trained to identify potential signs of abuse.

We found there were recruitment checks in place to ensure people were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. We found that not all recruitment procedures had been consistently followed by the provider when recruiting staff.

We saw that the provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.