This inspection was carried out on 5 January 2017 and was announced.

The service supports people in their own home who require personal care. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people receiving support with personal care.

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.

There was a welcoming and friendly atmosphere throughout the inspection. The registered manager promoted an open and honest culture that respected people, relatives and staff. The registered manager was passionate about the service. They believed in investing in staff to support staff development and career progression.

People and relatives were positive about the service and the caring approach of the registered manager and staff. Staff knew people well and had developed positive relationships. Staff understood the importance of promoting independence and the value of social interactions for people living in their own homes.

The service was responsive to people’s changing needs and supported them to access health professionals when needed.

Complaints were managed effectively and people were confident any concerns raised would be taken seriously.

Staff had the skills and knowledge required to support people’s needs. Staff were supported through regular supervision and had access to support at all times. Staff understood their responsibilities to report concerns in relation to safeguarding vulnerable adults.

People were supported in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). People and their relatives were involved in decisions about their care and how needs would be met. People were given choices and choices were respected. People were complimentary about staff ability to provide support in the way people wanted.

Care plans were in place and gave guidance to staff about how people’s needs should be met. Care plans included risk assessments and support people required to manage risks.

There were systems in place to ensure staff were deployed effectively to make care calls. There had been no missed visits and action was taken to notify people if care calls were going to be late.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the service. Annual surveys were carried out and used to identify areas of improvement.

We spoke with 13 people who use the service by telephone. We spoke to the registered manager, three senior staff and three care staff in the agency office.

People told us what they thought about the service they received from Care Matters. We were told “Their service is very good, they are very polite and they do the job I pay them for”. “They are fine, brilliant and it’s no problem”. “On the whole they are good but I don’t get a whole lot of continuity”. “They are very good I’ve got no complaints”.

People who use the service each had a care plan in place that showed how to give them the support they needed. The staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s different needs and how to meet them.

People felt they were treated respectfully by the staff who came to their home’s. The staff knew what actions to take to keep people safe from abuse. We saw up to date information available to guide them on how to safeguard people.

The staff who supported people had completed a range of training and development courses. This helped staff understand people’s range of care and support needs.

The provider’s system to monitor the overall quality and effectiveness included directly consulting with people who use the service, to ask them about the quality and effectiveness of the service.

We visited three people who received a service and spoke by telephone with relatives of two people who received a service. We spoke with three care workers and a senior carer.

All the people we spoke with said staff were very respectful of their privacy and dignity. A relative told us “I have seen only good care. The care staff allow (my relative) to set the pace.”

We received information that visits were not always reliable. People we spoke with said staff were reliable at arriving on time and staying for the correct amount of time. We found an example of a missed visit. The manager had investigated the cause and changed systems to avoid a recurrence. This was an example of learning through handling a complaint. We identified where the provision for addressing complaints could be improved.

Care plans were specific about how to provide people with personal care and assistance to meals, based on individual wishes and preferences. Some information could have been made more useful to staff by being more detailed. We saw that care plans were agreed with the person receiving care or a near relative. A person we visited said “The care plan is what I’ve agreed to; it fits what I want and what my family see as important.”

Staff had a good knowledge of the service’s medication policy, which the manager was currently reviewing. Some directions about medicines needed to be more detailed.

The service had good provision for developing their staff and the business.