This inspection was announced and took place on 08 November 2018. We gave the provider 48 hours’ of our intention to undertake the inspection, this was because the service provides domiciliary care to people in their own homes and we needed to make sure someone would be available at the office. This is the first inspection of this service since it registered with CQC in September 2017. At the time of our inspection 30 people received care and support services.

There was a registered manager in place who is 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 told us that they received care from regular staff who generally arrived on time and stayed for the agreed length of time. However, we found the scheduling of calls needed to be improved to give appropriate travelling time between calls especially for those staff who walked or used public transport between calls. We found some call schedules had been planned with no travel time given between calls.

People were supported by staff who had received training in how to recognise possible signs of abuse and how to report any concerns. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in this area and what actions they should take.

Staff received appropriate induction training and on-going training to meet the needs of the people they supported. Where people required support with their medicines, staff had received training on recording when medicine was promoted as part of their induction training.

People were given choices and their wishes were respected by staff. Staff understood they could only care for and support people who consented to being cared for. People told us staff responded when they were unwell and would arrange health appointments on their behalf if they asked.

People told us that the liked the staff who supported them, who they described as caring. People had developed good relationships with their regular staff and staff enjoyed their roles and spoke warmly of the people they cared for.

Staff were knowledgeable about people’s care needs and their preferences and people told us they could talk to staff if they had any concerns or complaints.

People spoke positively about the care provided by individual staff but felt that management of the service could be improved in some areas, for example, the scheduling of call times. The provider had checks in place, but these had not been robust enough in ensuring all area for improvement were identified and action taken in response.

The management team worked with other agencies to support the well-being of the people receiving care and support.