The inspection took place on 14 December 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hour notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office.

Courtfield Healthcare provides personal care and support to older people who live their own homes There were four people receiving support with personal care.

Courtfield Healthcare also provides nurses and care staff to care homes and hospitals. This service is not required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission as does not need to be registered.

We had inspected this service in 15 and 22 October 2015 but we did not have enough evidence to provide a rating.

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.

Staff received one on one support sessions with the registered manager. However not as regularly as stated in the provider’s policy. This put people at risk if staff not regularly checked and monitored to ensure that they provided appropriate care to people who used the service.

People were safe as staff had been trained and understood how to support people in a way that protected them from harm and abuse. Staff had access to detailed care plans and risk assessments and were aware of how to protect people from harm.

The provider completed appropriate checks on staff before they started work to ensure they were safe to work with people. People received care from staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Staff attended training that was relevant to the people they supported and adapted to meet individual needs.

People were involved in decisions about their day to day care. When people could not make decisions for themselves staff understood the steps they needed to follow to ensure their rights were upheld.

People’s likes and dislikes were known by staff who supported them in a way which was personal to them. People were supported by staff who had positive relationships with them. People were involved in their own care and information was given to them by staff in a way they could understand.

People’s independence was encouraged and staff respected their privacy and dignity. People had access to healthcare and support when needed and staff responded to any changes in need promptly and consistently.

People and staff felt able to express their views to the management team and felt their opinion was taken into account. The registered manager undertook regular quality checks in order to drive improvements. The provider engaged people and their families and encouraged feedback. People felt confident they were listened to and their views were valued. Staff were supported by the registered manager who promoted an open and transparent culture.

Courtfield Healthcare is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. When we visited there was only one person receiving a service. This meant that we were unable to provide a rating for this service because the agency was not fully operational. The registered manager told us they were planning to build on the business supporting people in their own homes over the next twelve months.

Courtfield Healthcare also provides nurses and care staff to care homes and hospitals. This service is not required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission as it is out of the scope of our registration.

The inspection was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of our inspection. We did this to ensure we would be able to meet with people and staff at the service. This was the agency’s first inspection. This was because the service had not been providing personal care since registering in December 2012.

The owner of the agency was the 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.

Care plans were in place to guide staff on how people liked to be supported. These covered all areas of daily living. This included how people would like to be supported with personal care and any risks to the person or the staff member.

Safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff completed an induction and on going training to enable to build on their skills and knowledge. Whilst the staff member felt supported, more formal systems had not been introduced during the short time the business had been operating.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service such as annual surveys, care reviews, supervisions and appraisals of staff. However these had not been completed since the service started operating in June 2015. The registered manager told us they met informally on a regular basis with the staff member employed and spoke regular with the person receiving a service to ensure they were happy with the care delivery.