This announced comprehensive inspection took place on 22 August and 6 September 2018. Mulier Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of this inspection two people were using the service.

This is the first inspection of the service since registering with CQC on 25 October 2016.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

At this inspection we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. There were breaches of legal requirement in relation to fit and proper persons employed and good governance. We found that the provider did not have safe recruitment practices in place and had not acquired references for staff before employing them. The systems used in assessing and monitoring the quality of the service were not effective in identifying issues and driving improvement and records were not always complete and presented promptly when required. Medicines were not always managed safely; medicines administrations were not always recorded and staff medicines competencies had not been assessed, although they had completed training.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

People were protected from avoidable harm as risks to people had been identified, assessed and had appropriate management plans in place. People and their relative’s views were sought to develop and improve on the service. The provider had safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff knew how to protect people in their care from abuse. Appropriate numbers of staff were deployed to support people’s needs. Staff followed safe infection control practices to prevent the spread of diseases. The provider had an accident and incident policy and procedure in place and staff knew of the importance of reporting and recording accidents and incidents.

Before people started using the service the provider carried out an assessment of their needs to ensure they would be met. People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Peoples were supported to maintain good health and their nutritional needs were met. Where required people were supported to have access to healthcare services including attending GP and hospital appointments. The provider worked in partnership with key organisations to deliver joined-up care and support. Staff were supported through induction, training and supervision to ensure they had the knowledge and skills required to perform their role effectively.

People were supported by staff that were caring and kind to them. People and their relatives had been consulted about the care and support in place and their views were taken into consideration when planning the care. People’s privacy and dignity was respected and their independence promoted. People’s communication needs had been assessed and were supported with various technology to live their lives as independently as possible.

People received support from staff that met their needs and each person had a care plan in place which provided staff with guidance on how their needs should be met. Staff understood people’s diversity and supported them in a caring way.