This inspection took place on 14 September 2016 and was announced. This was the first time we inspected this service as it was first registered in September 2015.

Ash Grove provides personal care to people living in their own homes within the provider’s housing scheme. The service supports older people, some of whom live with dementia or who have limited mobility. At the time of our inspection 11 people were using the service, other people lived at the scheme but were not receiving personal care.

There was a registered manager in place. 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 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us that they felt safe. Staff were aware of the need to keep people safe and they knew how to report allegations or suspicions of poor practice.

People who needed support with their medication were supported appropriately but improvement was needed to records when medicines were not administered.

People were supported by staff who had the appropriate skills and knowledge they needed to meet their care needs. Staff had access to health professionals and regular training to maintain their knowledge of good practice and people’s care needs.

People were supported to have their mental and physical healthcare needs met. The registered manager sought and took advice from relevant health professionals when needed. Staff were aware of people’s nutritional needs and people were supported with eating and drinking where necessary. People told us that staff asked their consent before providing care and support.

People spoke highly of all the support staff and enjoyed living at Ash Grove. People said staff were caring and had built up close relationships with the members of staff who supported them. People and, where appropriate, their relatives were consulted about their preferences and people were treated with dignity and respect.

The registered manager had fostered a culture which was responsive to people’s needs and driven by delivering care in line with peoples’ wishes. People had access to a complaints system and told us they felt confident in raising any concerns or complaints directly with the registered manager.

There was effective leadership from the registered manager and the members of staff we spoke with were well motivated and enthusiastic. The registered manager assessed and monitored the quality of care consistently through observation and regular audits of events and practice and a full audit of the service was scheduled to take place by the provider’s quality assurance team.