Chosen Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing a service to people living in the London boroughs of Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Havering, and Newham. The service was previously known as Speiuss Ltd. At the time of the inspection there were 135 people using the service.

At the last inspection on 29 June 2015, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Each person had a risk assessment which identified possible risks and the actions staff needed to take. Care staff had good understanding of how to recognise and report allegations of abuse. The staff we spoke with showed sound understanding of how to recognise and report allegations of abuse. Staff were appropriately checked to ensure that they were safe to work with people.

Care staff had the experience and knowledge required to support people in their homes. They told us they had received training, induction and supervision to support people effectively. People's nutritional needs were identified and appropriate support provided as required.

People received support that enabled them to have choice and control of their lives. They had an opportunity to advise care staff how they would like to be supported. Care staff demonstrated caring attitude to people and always stayed for the whole time allocated to them to complete tasks.

Care plans and risk assessments were personalised and showed each person received support and care that reflected their needs. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and reviewing of care plans. The service also had a complaints procedure which was used as a learning tool to improve the service.

There was a clear management structure in place for the smooth running of the service. People, relatives and staff told us that they were happy with the management. Quality of care was reviewed through various systems including regular audits of the service, telephone calls to monitor care and survey questionnaires.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We undertook an announced inspection of Speiuss Ltd on 29 June 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. At our last inspection on 29 April 2013 the service met required standards in all the areas we inspected.

Speiuss Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing a service to people living in the London boroughs of Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Havering, and Newham. At the time of the inspection there were 135 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

From our discussions with people using the service, relatives and other stakeholders we found that people were satisfied with care and support provided. Relatives told us that staff were kind and ensured people's respect and dignity. We were informed by relatives and the registered manager staff supported the same people for a long time and this ensured continuity of service and allowed staff to know people well and build positive relationships.

Staff were appropriately vetted. The registered manager told us all staff employed by the service had been vetted before starting work. Staff files showed that two written references, identity and police checks had been carried out on all staff. We noted that salaries were paid into staff bank accounts. All these ensured that people were supported by staff who were appropriately checked.

Each person had a care plan which was based on their assessments and reflected their needs. The care plans were regularly reviewed and updated. However, some care plans did not include sufficient information guidance about some people's health conditions. Even though staff were not required to support people with these conditions, their knowledge of them would be beneficial in a case of an emergency. We have made a recommendation relating to staff understanding of the health conditions of the people who use the service.

Relatives told us that staff were caring. They said staff arrived and left on time. We were informed that staff completed their tasks before leaving and sometimes did additional work for people. Discussions with staff and records indicated that staff had attended a range of training programmes and an induction programme before starting work with people. We noted that regular staff supervision annual appraisal took place. This showed that appropriate systems were in place to support staff to do their job.

There was clear management structure in place which was understood by staff. This ensured that staff had specified responsibilities and accountabilities in relation aspects of running the service. People told us they knew how to contact staff if they had a concern. We noted the registered manager sought feedback from people and regularly monitored the quality of the service through telephone calls and visits to people's homes. This indicated that the service was well-led.

Speiuss Ltd is a new service. At present it is used by 17 people most of whom started to use it within the last four months. People using the service said they were pleased with it, one said "it's early days but I have found them very good." We found that service had good procedures in place to enable people to make choices about how their care and support was provided. The service was effective in clarifying peoples' needs and organising safe care. Managers of the service had ensured that it had employed reliable and trustworthy staff and were monitoring the quality of the service. When necessary changes had been made to improve the service.