Desired Care 4 U is a domiciliary care service providing a service to people living in their own home. This announced inspection took place on 09 October 2018. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service because we wanted to make sure staff and people would be available for us to speak with. At the time of the inspection there were eighteen people using the service.

At our last inspection, on 14 June 2016, we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Staff had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and health and safety policies and procedures. Staff knew what action to take if they identified any safety concerns during their work. General risks and risks to individuals were identified and action continued to be taken to reduce them, as far as possible.

Medicine was administered as safely as possible. Care staff followed the medication procedure, completed medicine care plans and recorded medicine administration. We found that care plans had details about medication and how to support people.

People benefitted from continuity of staff, to ensure that relationships were built and people did not have to endure different staff for their care. Staff had received ongoing training to ensure that their skills were updated with current knowledge. The service did not accept a package of care unless they were able to provide staffing to meet the individual’s needs safely. The service followed a recruitment process which ensured staff were recruited safely.

The service worked closely with health and other professionals to ensure people’s needs were met in the best way possible.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People continued to be supported by a committed and enthusiastic staff team who delivered care with kindness, respect and understanding. Staff told us they had built caring relationships with people and were able to meet their needs sensitively.

The service and care staff were aware of people’s equality and diversity needs and endeavoured to meet them.

The service was being flexible and responsive to people’s individual’s needs. It adapted and changed care packages in response to people’s choices and specific needs. People’s needs were regularly reviewed to ensure the care provided was up-to-date. Care plans included information to ensure people’s communication needs were understood.

The registered manager and the staff team were committed to ensuring there was no discrimination relating to staff or people in the service. The quality of care the service provided was continually assessed, reviewed and improved.

This was an announced inspection, which took place 03 February 2015. We gave the provider 48 hours notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides domiciliary care and we wanted to be sure that staff would be available. This was the first inspection of the service.

Desired Care 4 U Limited is a privately owned service, which provides a personal care service to people living in their own homes.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

All the people we spoke with said they received a safe service. Clear procedures were in place to ensure that people received a service that was safe; staff followed the procedures to ensure the risk of harm to people was reduced. The risk of harm to people receiving a service was assessed and managed appropriately; this ensured that people received care and support in a safe way. Where people received support from staff with taking prescribed medicines, this was done in a way that ensured the risk to people was minimised.

People told us that they felt that there were enough staff employed to meet their needs and offer them a reliable and flexible service. Everyone that used the service and their relatives felt the staff that supported them were trained and competent. Staff received the training development and support needed to ensure they did their job well and provided an effective service. Staff practice ensured that people’s rights were protected.

People received support with their food and health care needs where required. People were able to raise their concerns or complaints and these were thoroughly investigated and responded to, so people were confident they were listened to and their concerns taken seriously.

Everyone spoken with said they received a good quality service. The management of the service was stable, with robust processes in place to monitor the quality of the service.