About the service:

• This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.

• Not everyone using this service receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection 20 people were receiving support from the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People found staff to be caring and compassionate, whilst feeling supported to be as independent as they could be.

• The service took steps to keep people safe, and ensured they received their medicines in a timely manner.

• Risks to people were appropriately assessed, and people were supported by regular staff and received consistency in their care.

• Staff received regular training and supervision support to enable them to be competent in their roles.

• People received personalised care that reflected their preferences and choices.

• People, relatives and staff were positive about the management team and how they supported the service.

Rating at last inspection:

• At our last inspection of 22 July 2016 the service was rated ‘Good’.

Why we inspected:

• This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This was an announced inspection that took place on 10 June 2016.

This is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to enable people to live as independently as possible in their own homes. It is located in the Woking area.

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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the previous inspection on 25 July 2013, the agency was compliant with the standards inspected. At this inspection the regulations were met.

People said they were happy with the service provided and were notified if there were changes to staff or the timing of care provided. The designated care tasks were carried out to their satisfaction and the staff were committed and caring. They thought the service provided was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

The records were kept up to date and covered all aspects of the care and support people received. This included people’s choices and identified the support given to meet their needs. The information was clearly recorded, fully completed, and regularly reviewed. This enabled staff to perform their duties.

Staff knew the people they gave support to and the way people liked to be supported. They also worked well as a team if a call required more than one member of staff. Staff provided care and support in a professional, friendly and effective way that was focussed on the individual and they had appropriate skills to do so. They were well trained, knowledgeable and accessible to people using the service and their relatives.

Staff said the organisation was a good one to work for and they enjoyed their work. They had access to good training, support and there were opportunities for career advancement.

People and their relatives were encouraged to discuss health and other needs with staff and had agreed information passed on to GP’s and other community based health professionals, as appropriate. Staff protected people from nutrition and hydration associated risks by giving advice about healthy food options and balanced diets whilst still providing meals that people enjoyed.

The agency staff knew about the Mental Capacity Act and their responsibilities regarding it.

People told us the office, management team and organisation were approachable, responsive, encouraged feedback and frequently monitored and assessed the quality of the service provided.

People who used the service were provided with a range of information to assist them in making decisions and choices. Three relative's of people who were using the service confirmed they had been given an information booklet and were involved in identifying and agreeing the support needs. One of these relatives said, "They explained things in good detail." Relatives and people who used the service who spoke with us informed us that staff were respectful and managed people's dignity appropriately. People were given choices as to how they like to be supported and were assisted to be as independent as possible.

People’s needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered as agreed. Information was recorded in the first person such as, what I like to do and what I want. A relative said there was continuity of staff and that the person receiving care was very happy with the service, stating to us about the quality of service, "Extremely good in absolute terms."

Staff were trained in recognising and responding to potential safeguarding concerns. They had relevant information to guide them and understood their responsibilities. We saw effective recruitment procedures in place, which included checking the suitability of staff their roles, their skills and previous experience.

The service used a range of methods to continuously assess and monitor the standards of service provision, including direct discussion with people having care or relatives.