We inspected the service on 10 May 2017. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our inspection because we needed to be sure they would be available.

Dreisco Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people in their own home. At the time of our inspection four people were receiving personal care and support from the service.

There was a registered manager in place. It is a requirement that the service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 felt safe and staff knew their responsibilities to help protect them from avoidable harm and abuse. Risks associated with people’s care were assessed and guidance was available for staff to reduce the likelihood of an accident or incident. The provider had arrangements in place to deal with unforeseen events such as if a person did not answer when staff arrived at their home. The provider had safely recruited a suitable number of staff to provide care to people and to help them to remain safe.

Where people required assistance with their medicines, this was undertaken by staff who knew their responsibilities. They received training and guidance on the safe handling of people’s medicines.

People received care and support from staff with the necessary skills and knowledge. Staff received an induction when they started to work for the provider as well as on-going training and guidance so that they knew their responsibilities.

Staff sought people’s consent and supported people to be involved in decisions about their care and support. Staff knew the actions that may be required should a person not be able to make a decision for themselves. The provider had systems and processes in place to assess a person’s mental capacity should this be required.

People received good support to prepare a meal where this was required. Where there were concerns about a person’s health and well-being, staff knew the action to take.

People received care and support from staff who were kind and compassionate. People’s dignity and privacy was respected by staff who knew how to deliver care in sensitive ways. Staff knew the people they supported including how to maintain their skills and abilities.

People received care that was based on their preferences and things that mattered to them. Each person had a care plan that was centred on them as individuals to guide staff when delivering care. People contributed to the planning and review of their care and there were opportunities to make a complaint or to raise a concern should this be required.

People were mainly satisfied with the timing of their calls and the punctuality of staff. Staff stayed with people for the required amount of time.

The service was well-led and people had opportunities to give feedback to the service. The registered manager carried out quality checks of the service to make sure they offered good quality care, such as checking that the records staff completed were accurate.

Staff felt supported and knew the provider’s expectations of them. The provider had a range of processes to make sure this occurred such as individual and group meetings with the registered manager.

The registered manager was aware of their registration requirements including notifying CQC of significant incidents that occurred.