The inspection took place on 18 November 2016 and was announced. The provider was given notice because the location was a domiciliary care agency (DCA) and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Creative Media Centre DCA provides a personal care service to people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection 15 people were supported by the agency with their personal care needs.

The service had a registered manager in post. The registered manager was also the registered provider. 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.

People said; “We have been very happy with the support and the care that is given” and “They are so caring.” Another person said; “They helped me get on my feet when I was very, very sick.” Staff said; “Lovely company to work for” and “Best company I have ever worked for.”

People’s care records contained information that described what staff needed to do to provide individual care and support. Staff responded promptly to people’s change in needs. When required, relatives and health and social care professionals were involved in identifying people’s needs. People’s preferences, life histories, disabilities and abilities were taken into account, communicated and well documented.

People’s risks were monitored and managed well. The agency had policies and procedures in place which were understood by staff to help protect people and keep them safe.

People were kept safe and protected from discrimination. All staff had completed safeguarding from abuse training. Staff displayed good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm.

People who required assistance were supported and encouraged to maintain a varied and healthy, balanced diet.

People medicines were managed safely and people told us they were given the prompts required to help ensure they received their medicines as prescribed.

People, relatives and staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements in the way the service was provided. This helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

The service sought feedback from people and encouraged people to share their concerns and complaints. The registered manager confirmed they would investigate any complaints or concerns thoroughly and used the outcome as an opportunity for learning to take place.

The registered manager had completed training in the Mental Capacity Act. They understood the requirements of the act, and knew how to put this into practice should the need arise.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were trained and had the correct skills to carry out their roles effectively. The service followed safe recruitment practices to help ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. Staff described the management as open, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs and felt motivated to provide quality care.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place to help drive improvements and ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

On the day of our inspection the agency provided 15 people with personal care and 15 people with domestic support within their own homes. We spoke with three people who received personal care and one family member. One person told us, “The agency is the best one I have used, staff are always friendly.” We spoke with five staff. They felt well supported in their roles.

We found that staff sought consent prior to care delivery. One person told us, “The staff always ask me how I like things done.” Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of issues related to consent to care.

We looked at five care plans and found these reflected the care that was provided.

The agency had safeguarding policies in place. Staff we spoke with had safeguarding training and knew how to recognise and report signs of abuse if they had concerns.

We looked at three staff files. We found there were effective recruitment procedures in place.

We found that there were systems in place to check the quality of the services provided.