About the service:

Heritage Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to eight people at the time of the inspection. The service cared for people that required one staff member only. People who used the service were privately funded. The service was not commissioned by any local authorities at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

Staff understood how to raise concerns should they need to. People and staff felt they were listened to and that their ideas and any concerns they may have were addressed.

People had individual risk assessments so that staff had the information they needed to support them safely and minimise the identified risks.

People's medicines were being managed safely and administered by trained staff.

Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and protected them from harm. The service carried out pre-employment checks on staff before they worked with people to assess their suitability.

People and relatives provided consistently positive feedback about the care, staff and management. They said the service was caring, timely, effective and well-led.

Training and observations of staff practice, as well as supervision with the management team ensured that staff were competent in their roles.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

Staff knew people well and provided support in the way people wanted. People's individual needs and preferences were known and understood by staff which meant that they received a person-centred service. Support was provided which ensured people received food and drink when they needed this.

People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect at all times.

The service was well-led by a dedicated management team who demonstrated compassion and commitment to the needs of the people who used the service as well as the staff who worked for them.

The registered manager and deputy manager completed regular audits to ensure the service was running in line with their policies and procedures. Audits identified any shortfalls within the service with action taken to address this.

People and their relatives were asked for feedback about the service and were kept updated about any changes. The registered manager planned to send out surveys to people and their relatives to check they were happy with the standard of care provided.

More information in Detailed Findings below.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection. The was the service’s first inspection since they registered with the CQC. This inspection was carried out to check that the service was meeting requirements and to rate the service.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until the next inspection. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.