This announced inspection took place on 19 February 2016. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because the organisation provides a domiciliary care service to people and we needed to be sure someone would be available at the office. The provider is registered to provide personal care and support to people who live either in their own home or live with a family member. At the time of our inspection 73 people received care and support.

There was a registered manager in place for this service. 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.

People and their family members were confident in the service provided and told us they were well cared for and supported by staff members. People told us they were treated with respect and their dignity and privacy was up held by the staff who cared for them. People received care and support from regular staff members who they liked and found to be caring and kind.

Staff had knowledge about people’s care needs and how these were to be met. People’s consent was obtained before care and support was provided. People and their relatives were aware of how they could raise concerns about the service provided.

Staff were aware of the actions they would need to take to take to report abuse and concerns regarding people’s welfare. Staff were able to explain how they kept people safe from harm and risks. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed and staff supported people to have their healthcare needs met. Some people needed assistance with eating and drinking and were supported by staff to do this.

Before new staff started working for the provider checks were carried out. Induction training was in place to support new staff members. Induction training including spending time with experienced members of staff and getting to know people who used the service was in place.

Systems were in place to monitor the care and support provided. When shortfalls were identified these were addressed as part of the checks made by the management. Staff reported they felt well supported by the registered manager and were complimentary about the management.

This agency provided care for adults in their own homes. During this inspection we spoke on the telephone with nine people who used the agency and one relative. We spoke with the provider and four care staff at the agency office.

People we spoke with were complimentary about the care and support that they received. One person said: “They are exemplary; first class. The staff are always cheerful”. People told us that they felt involved in any decisions that needed to be made about their care and these were made in their best interests.

We found that proper steps had been taken to ensure that individualised care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.

Staff had been recruited in an appropriate way and checks had been undertaken that ensured they were suitable to care for vulnerable people.

The provider had systems of audit in place to enable them to monitor the quality of the service provided to ensure that people received appropriate care and treatment.

We found that any comments and complaints people made were responded to appropriately.

We visited the agency office and spoke on the telephone with people who used the agency. We found that people were able to express their views and had been involved in making decisions about their care and treatment.

We found that care and treatment had been planned and delivered in a way that met with the essential standards. We talked with seven people about their experience of the care and service they received from the agency. They were all very complimentary about the care and support that they received from the agency. People told us the agency was “excellent”, “very good”. “Brilliant”, we can’t fault them at all”.

We found that people who used the agency were protected from the risk of abuse. People told us that they felt safe whilst receiving care from the agency and they were aware of how to complain.

People told us that they received a good standard of care from the staff who worked for the agency. They told us the “carers are nice people”, “they have become friends”. The “staff are very friendly”. We found that staff had received appropriate induction, training and supervision. This meant that the staff had the skills needed to meet the care needs of the people who used the agency.

People who used the agency were asked for their views about the care and treatment provided. People that we spoke with had been asked to contribute to the annual satisfaction survey. All of the people we spoke with knew how to raise concerns. We found that the provider had an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.