This inspection took place on the 8 October 2018 and was announced. This was the first inspection of the service.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It is registered to provide a service to people who misuse drugs and alcohol, children, older adults, younger adults, people with mental health issues, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. A small number of people were using the service at the time of our inspection.

The service did not have a registered manager in place. 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.

We found two breaches of regulations during this inspection. This was because medicines were not managed in a safe way and the service lacked quality assurance methods and monitoring systems that might improve the service for people or make the service better or more efficient. The provider did not record meetings with people or relatives as best practice would dictate. The provider did not seek feedback from people or relatives. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of the full version of this report.

We have also made one recommendation about the supervision of staff.

There were appropriate safeguarding procedures in place and people told us they felt safe using the service. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people and mitigated against risk and harm. There were sufficient staff working at the service to meet people's needs and recruitment procedures aimed at keeping people safe. Staff understood infection control issues and used protective clothing when necessary.

People’s needs were assessed before the service worked with them. This meant the service determined whether they could provide the right care for people. Staff received induction training before starting work at the service and had access to regular training that helped them support people’s needs. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and staff understood the need to seek consent from people. The service supported people to access health care professionals when required.

People were supported by the same staff so they could build good relationships. People were treated in a compassionate manner by staff and where possible were supported to maintain their independence. People’s privacy and dignity was respected.

Care plans were detailed and personalised to meet people’s individual needs and had clear instructions for staff to provide the right care. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint. The service had the ability to be able to provide end of life care.

People and staff spoke positively about the nominated individual who was managing the service. The nominated individual had links in to peer providers. People, relatives and staff knew what to expect from the service as this was set out in the service user guide and the service’s mission statement.