About the service: Guardian Home Care Brixham is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to people in their homes in Brixham, Paignton, Torquay and Exeter. At the time of our inspection 208 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

Some care plans did not contain enough detail for staff to know how to deliver care effectively and consistently. Where people lacked capacity to make decisions about their care and support, the care plan did not contain evidence to show decisions had been made in the person’s best interests. Despite the lack of information in care plans, the majority of people told us staff knew them and met their needs on each visit.

At the time of our inspection, the manager had been in post for three weeks. The manager and senior management were already aware of the issues we identified. They knew what needed to be done to improve the service and had started work on this.

People felt safe and comfortable when staff visited them in their home. People were kept safe as potential risks had been assessed and managed.

There were enough staff to complete the planned visits. People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff. One person said, “The carers that come and see me are highly dedicated professionals, who care, do the job properly, and communicate with me”.

People’s needs were met by staff who had received regular training and support. People were treated with respect.

People were involved in making decisions about their care and supported to maintain their independence.

People and their relatives were asked for their views about the service. The most recent feedback results showed the majority of people were happy with the service they were receiving.

People and staff told us the service was improving and was well managed. People said, “The manager is very nice and takes notice of me, it’s been so much better this year” and “The manager is extremely wonderful, goes out of her way.” A staff member said, “I’m the most settled I’ve been in a long time”.

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 relating to need for consent and good governance. Details of action we have asked the provider to take can be found at the end of the full report.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of this service.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about this service until we return to visit as part of our re-inspection programme. If we have any concerns, we may inspect sooner.