We inspected this service on 31 October and 1 November 2016 and we gave short notice to the registered provider prior to our visit. This was to ensure that key people were available during the inspection.

Crossroads Care Cheshire West Wirral and Shropshire is a domiciliary care service providing support to adults and children with physical and learning disabilities and autism. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission on 24 June 2014. The service provides carer breaks, respite support, children’s clubs, dementia clubs, and palliative care for people in their own homes. The service currently supports 250 people living within the local community.

There was a registered manager in place at this service. They had been registered for 11 months. 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 told us they were very happy with the service provided and that the staff were "brilliant, caring and friendly. People said “The staff are excellent”, “I have no complaints”, “The staff are cheerful”, “The staff help me with personal care tasks and outings” and “Staff help me to maintain my independence".

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and providing support to people within the community. They said they were well supported by the staff in the office and the management team.

Care plans were well documented and up to date. They gave clear guidance to the staff team. Risk assessments were undertaken for a variety of tasks which included moving and handling, nutrition, falls and the environment. These were reviewed regularly and up to date. The management of medication was safe and people were supported with the medicines when required. This meant that clear and up to date information was available within the care plan documentation for the staff to enable them to appropriately support people who used the service.

Staff were aware of how to report a safeguarding concern. They were aware of the policies and procedures available to safeguard people and children from harm and told us they would not hesitate to report any concerns. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and children from harm.

Staff had received a range of training that included moving and handling, safeguarding, medication and health and safety. A range of other training was available to the staff team. Staff told us that the training was good. Staff had access to supervision sessions and were invited to attend regular staff meetings.

Staff recruitment files showed that robust recruitment processes were in place. Staff attended an induction process prior to working alone in the community. Staff told us that they worked alongside an experienced staff member before going out alone. They confirmed the induction process was good and that they had the information they needed to perform their role. This meant that the people who used the service were supported by knowledgeable and skilled staff.

People had access to information about the service. They said that they knew the information was in their care folder and some people had read this. Other people said they were not bothered about the folder but knew the information was available. An initial home visit was undertaken by one of the care coordinators prior to the service starting. The purpose of the visit was to gather information about the person's needs and to plan people's care and support.

A complaints policy was available and each person had this information within the care folder. Processes were in place to deal with any complaints received.

Quality assurance processes were in place which included observations of staff to ensure that care and support standards were being maintaine