This inspection took place on 29 January, 2018 and was an announced.

Cherished Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to young and older adults. At the time of the inspection the registered provider was providing support to 14 people.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides a service to older adults, and to younger adults in their own houses and flats in the community. 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 the inspection 14 people were receiving personal care.

A registered manager was 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.

The registered provider had a variety of different systems and processes in place to assess and monitor the quality and standard of the care being provided. This meant that people were receiving safe, compassionate and effective care. Such systems included regular ‘spot checks’, care plan and medication audits, medication competency assessments as well as quality questionnaires.

We reviewed a number of care records during the inspection and found that records were organised, well maintained, regularly reviewed and updated in order to minimise risk Care plans were person centred and provided detailed information in relation to a person’s wishes, choices and preferences.

Medication management systems were safely and effectively managed. People who were receiving medication support had the necessary medication care plans and risk assessments in place and staff were familiar with specific health needs of people who were being supported. Staff had received the necessary medication training and there was an up to medication policy in place.

We found the area of ‘recruitment’ was safely and effectively managed. This meant that all staff who were working for the registered provider had suitable and sufficient references and disclosure and barring system checks (DBS) in place. DBS checks ensure that staff who are employed to care and support people are suitable to work within a health and social care setting. This enables the registered manager to assess level of suitability for working with vulnerable adults.

We reviewed ‘safeguarding’ processes and procedures which the registered provider had in place. We found that people were protected from avoidable harm and risk of abuse. Staff were familiar with the area of safeguarding and knew how to report any concerns.

Staff were fully supported in their roles through supervisions, annual appraisals and regular team meetings. Training, learning and development was encouraged by the registered provider and staff were provided with the necessary skills to fulfil their roles.

Accidents and incidents were being recorded, monitored and trends were being analysed. All staff we spoke with knew how to record any accidents/incidents and were aware of the serious incident policy and procedure.

We saw evidence during the inspection that the day to day support needs of people was being safely managed and people were receiving the appropriate care from health care professionals. Appropriate referrals were taking place and the relevant guidance and advice which was provided by professionals was being followed accordingly.

People were provided with a ‘Service user’ guide from the outset. The guide clearly outlined what people should expect from the registered provider and people were informed about the complaints process and