Green Rose provides care and support to people in their own homes. The service supports people with a learning disability, and at the time of the inspection was supporting eight people in five properties in Suffolk.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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 and associate Regulations about how the service is run.

During our last inspection in 2015 we found that medicines were not consistently managed. During this inspection we found improvements had been made and therefore people received their medicines safely.

People were safe and staff knew what actions to take to protect them from abuse. The provider had processes in place to identify and manage risk.

People received care from a consistent staff team who were well supported and trained.

Care staff understood the need to obtain consent when providing care.

People were supported with meals and to make choices about the food and drink they received. Staff supported people to maintain good health and access health care professionals when needed.

Assessments had been carried out and personalised care plans were in place which reflected individual needs and preferences. The provider had an effective complaints procedure and people had confidence that concerns would be investigated and addressed.

The service benefitted from a clear management structure and visible leadership. A range of systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered and drive improvement.

The inspection took place between 26 June and 10 July 2015 and was announced. The inspection was announced as this was a small agency and we wanted to make sure that someone would be available when we visited. This was the service’s first inspection since it was registered in 2014.

Green Rose provides care and support to individuals in their own home. The service supports individuals with a learning disability, and at the time of the inspection was supporting four individuals in three properties in Suffolk. The packages of care included twenty four hour care and staff were working with some individuals on a one or two to one basis.

The service has a registered manager who assisted us during the 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.

As part of our inspection we looked at medication and found that it was not consistently managed. The arrangements in place did not follow best practice and therefore placed people at risk.

Staff were aware of abuse and were clear about the procedures to follow to protect people. Risks to individuals were identified and there were clear plans in place identifying the actions that staff should take to minimise risks. Incidents were managed well and there were arrangements in place for emergencies.

Checks were undertaken on staff before they started work for the agency and there were sufficient numbers of staff to meet the needs of the individuals being supported.

Training was in place to develop staff’s knowledge and skills.Staff were well supported trhough supervision and staff meetings.

Staff had a good understanding of consent and we saw that assessments had been undertaken under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. People were supported to access a balanced diet and where concerns were identified referrals were made to dietary and nutritional specialists. Information was maintained about people’s health care needs, staff were clear about their role and referrals were made when people’s needs changed.

People were supported by staff in a caring and respectful way that maintained their safety but supported their independence. Advocacy was supported and people were enabled to make choices.

People’s needs were identified and reviewed. The care they received was personalised and they were supported to follow their individual interests. People told us that the agency listened to them and dealt with issues.

Leadership was visible and the registered manager was clear as to their responsibilities. Some quality assurance was undertaken but there were plans to develop this aspect of the service further .

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.