We undertook an announced inspection of Astoria Homecare Ltd on 20 February 2018. We told the provider 24 hours before our visit that we would be coming because the location provided a domiciliary care service for people in their own homes and the registered manager and staff might be not be available to assist with the inspection if they were out visiting people.

The service was registered on 30 January 2017 and had not been inspected before.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection there were three people using the service, all of whom were older adults with a range of care needs, including those related to mental health and dementia.

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.

The risks to people's wellbeing and safety had been assessed, and there was information on people’s records about how to mitigate these risks, however, individual risk assessments were at times basic and lacked information. The provider agreed to address these promptly.

People's needs were assessed prior to receiving a service and care plans were developed from the assessments. Care plans contained the necessary information for staff to know how to support people. However some sections were basic and lacked detail.

The service employed enough staff to meet people's needs safely and had contingency plans in place in the event of staff’s absence. Recruitment checks were in place to obtain information about new staff before they supported people unsupervised. However, not all gaps in staff’s employment histories had been explained.

Staff followed the procedure for the management of people’s medicines and people told us they were receiving their medicines as prescribed.

There were procedures for safeguarding adults and staff were aware of these. Staff knew how to respond to any medical emergencies or significant changes in a person's wellbeing.

The provider had systems in place to manage incidents and accidents and took appropriate action to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and staff had received training on this. People had consented to their care and support and had their mental capacity assessed prior to receiving a service from Astoria Homecare Ltd.

People's health and nutritional needs had been assessed, recorded and were monitored to ensure these were met.

Care staff received an induction and appropriate support before delivering care and support to people.

Feedback about the service from people and their relatives was positive. People said they had regular staff visiting which enabled them to build a rapport and get to know them.

People we spoke with and their relatives said that they were happy with the level of care they were receiving from the service.

There were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality and effectiveness of the service, and the provider ensured that areas for improvement were identified and addressed.

There was a complaints procedure in place which the provider followed. People felt confident that if they raised a complaint, they would be listened to and their concerns addressed.

People, staff and relatives told us that the registered manager and senior team were approachable and supportive. There was a clear management structure, and they encouraged an open and transparent culture within the service. People and staff were supported to raise concerns and make suggestions about where improvements could be made.