The inspection took place on 10 and 14 May and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection in order to ensure people we needed to speak with were available. The service provides personal support to people by arrangement in their home in the local area. This was the first inspection of this service at this location. The service had been inspected previously at its former location and rated good.

The service had a registered manager. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service trained staff to protect people from the risk of abuse and staff had a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Staff knew how to report matters to the appropriate authorities if they suspected abuse was happening.

People were supported by a sufficient number of knowledgeable staff. Staff had been recruited safely and had the skills and knowledge to provide care and support in ways that people chose.

There were systems in place so that staff were trained to administer medicines and people were either prompted or supported to take their prescribed medicines safely.

Staff were supported with supervision, annual appraisals, training and spot checks upon their practice.

People were supported to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet and sufficient fluid intake to maintain good health. Staff ensured that people’s health needs were effectively monitored.

The staff supported people to manage their health needs. The service had worked with GPs and other professionals to support people with their assessed support needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The staff responded to people’s needs in a compassionate and caring manner. Positive and supportive relationships had been built up between the staff, people using the service and relatives.

People were supported to make day to day decisions and were treated with dignity and respect.

The service had a complaints system of which people were aware and had received compliments from people using the service and their families about the support provided. People were supported to report any concerns or complaints and they felt they would be taken seriously.

There were systems in place to check the quality of the service and take the views and concerns of people and their relatives into account to make improvements to the service.