This inspection took place on 22 and 31 March 2017. The inspection was announced.

Glenelg Support Ltd is registered to provide a domiciliary care to people who have learning disabilities and complex needs in their own homes.

A registered manager was in post. 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.

Everyone we spoke with said they felt safe with the support being provided by Glenelg. In addition, staff we spoke with were clearly able to explain the course of action that they would take if they felt someone was being harmed or abused, and how they would report it, including whistleblowing to external organisations.

Risk assessments were clear, concise and explained the impact of the risk as well as how the staff should support the person to manage it. Risk assessments were regularly reviewed with the input of the people who used the service and their families.

Staff were recruited safely and checks were carried out on staff before they started work at the service to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. There were enough staff employed by the service to provide safe and consistent support to people. Staff told us they had their rotas in advance, and knew the people they supported well. We observed this when we visited people.

Medicines were well recorded and managed for people who required support. Assessments were completed to support people with their medication needs. We saw the service’s process for storing medication when we visited some people in their homes.

Incidents and accidents were analysed and each incident and accident was recorded in people’s care files including any remedial action that had been taken as a result and any emerging patterns or trends identified.

Staff and managers followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that people’s rights were protected where they were unable to make decisions for themselves. Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people and the principles of best interest decisions. Routine choices such as preferred daily routines and level of support from staff for personal care were acknowledged and respected.

Staff were trained in a range of subjects in accordance with the provider’s training policy and the staff’s training and development needs. This was identified according to which person the staff member was supporting, and what specific training they would need. Staff told us they felt the training was of good quality and they were able to request additional training when they felt they needed it. Staff told us training was discussed with them as part of their supervision. Staff were supported to complete an induction and there were shadow shift opportunities so people using the service and staff could get to know each other.

People were supported with their nutrition and hydration needs. Staff kept records relating to peoples eating and drinking and people were involved in the preparation of their own meals with staff support.

Staff were caring towards people. People and their relatives told us they felt the staff were caring and we observed kind and familiar interactions between staff and people and who used the service.

There was exceptional emphasis on person centred care and support for people. Person centred means that the service was tailored to fit around the needs of the individual and not the needs of the organisation. We saw numerous examples and spoke to people and families who confirmed that person centred care and support was a continuous theme within the service. People were creatively supported to be independent and were encouraged to be in control of their own lives.

A positive feature of Gle