Arbour Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides live-in personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older and younger people some of whom may have a with a learning or physical disability. At the time of our inspection the service provided a regulated activity to 27 people.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection. 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.

Medicines were not always managed in a safe way which put people at risk. However, people did say that they received their medicines when needed. Medicines audits not effective in identifying the shortfalls.

Daily notes relating to people’s care was not person centred. We have made a recommendation around this.

People told us that they felt safe. Relatives felt that their family members were safe with staff.

Recruitment process were robust and staff understood what they needed to do to protect people from the risk of abuse.

There were sufficient levels of staff to support people. Risk assessments were in place for people and staff were aware of how to reduce risks. Staff were following good infection control. Accidents and incidents were recorded. The registered manager was asked to ensure that these records were kept centralised so that analysis could be undertaken.

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act were being followed and staff ensured that they gained consent from people before delivering care.

Staff had the training and supervision necessary to carry out their role. People felt that staff were effective and understood what care they needed to deliver. Staff worked with health care professionals to ensure that people were supported with the health care needs. This included being supported with their food and hydration needs.

A full assessment of people’s needs took place before people started using the service. Care plans were detailed and people were fully involved in the planning. Care plans were regularly reviewed and updated. Staff understood the needs of people and were effective in communicating changes in people’s care. People were supported to access the community.

People and relatives felt that staff were caring and respectful. People felt that staff assisted with the independence and included them in any decision making. People and relatives developed positive relationships with staff.

People understood how to make a complaint. Complaints were investigated and actions taken to resolve complaints. Other audits and quality assurance were robust and used to make improvements to the care provided. People and staff thought the leadership of the service was good. Staff felt supported and valued. Staff understood the ethos of the service.

The service worked closely with other agencies outside of the organisation. The registered manager ensured that notifications were sent to the CQC where necessary.

This was the first inspection at the service. There is one breach of regulation. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.