The inspection was announced and took place on 28 and 29 August 2018. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. We did this to ensure key staff would be available at the service. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to eight people living in their own homes.

There was a registered manager in post at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. 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.

At the time of the inspection the service employed, a registered manager, business manager and care staff. Both the registered manager and business manager were joint directors of the service. They worked closely together to help manage the service and provided personal care to people.

People felt safe and there were systems in place to safeguard them from risk of possible harm. People had individual risk assessments so that staff had the information they needed to support them safely and minimise the identified risks.

People's medicines were being managed safely and administered by staff that were trained. Medicine administration records contained updated guidance to staff and were fully completed. Changes in people's health were identified quickly and staff supported people and their relatives to contact their health care professionals.

Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and protected them from harm. Appropriate checks were made before staff started to work to make sure they were suitable to work with people.

To ensure staff maintained high standards when delivering care, regular spot checks were undertaken, and staff received regular supervision. They told us that they found supervision informative and instructive. They told us that their managers and supervisors were helpful and always available to speak to if they had any concerns. The service operated an on-call system to allow staff to contact a member of the management team in case of any emergencies.

Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people and acted in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff had a good understanding of people's needs and supported them effectively. People and relatives told us that staff were respectful of their homes and supported them to maintain their independence.

People were supported to eat meals of their choice and staff understood the importance of people having a nutritional diet.

Staff were described as caring, friendly and supportive. It was clear positive relationships had been built between people and staff. Communication between staff, people and their relatives was positive.

People's needs had been assessed and there were care plans in place that took account of their individual needs, preferences, and choices.

People and their relatives were aware of how to raise concerns or complaints. They said they had been asked for their opinions and if they were happy with the services they received.

There were processes in place to monitor quality and understand the experiences of people who used the service. People and their relatives were happy with how the service was managed. People told us they would happily recommend the service.