This inspection was announced and took place on 12 April 2017. Interserve Healthcare Nottingham is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to adults and children, in their own homes. Some of the people using the service had complex healthcare needs and the frequency of visits depended on people’s individual requirements. Visits ranged from short visits to 24 hour care. On the day of our inspection 14 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our 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.

Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures in order to protect people from harm. Risks to people had been identified and assessed and appropriate measures were in place to reduce the risk.

People received their medicines as prescribed by staff that had been trained in the safe administration of medicines.

People were cared for by sufficient numbers of staff who had been safely recruited. Staff had received training and had their competency assessed however the consistency and knowledge base of staff required improvement.

People were encouraged to make independent decisions. However, improvements were required to ensure that people who were not able to make their own decisions had their rights protected.

People were supported with their healthcare needs although some relatives felt that further support was required to ensure people were prompted and encouraged to eat.

People had positive relationships with care workers who treated them with kindness and respected their privacy and dignity.

People who used the service, or their representatives, were encouraged to contribute to the planning of their care and to give their views on the running of the service. People were provided with information about how to complain about the service and records showed complaints were responded to.

People received personalised care. People had care and support plans in place and relatives told us that changes to their relations support needs were acted upon. People’s care plans generally contained detailed guidance for staff and were kept up to date.

People benefitted from an open culture which encouraged feedback. Staff felt supported and the management promoted strong values which were embedded in the service.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service. When issues were identified action was taken to address these.