We inspected this service on 22 and 23 September 2016. We informed the registered manager that we would be inspecting the service two days before our arrival to ensure that someone would be in the office. This meant that the provider and staff knew we would be visiting before we arrived.

Oldham Care and Support At Home is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. People are supported with a variety of tasks including personal support, meal preparation, and supporting people to take their medicine. In addition, the service also manages four extra care schemes where staff are available throughout the day to support people to maintain their independence and assist people who required support with such tasks.

At the time of our inspection, the service was providing support to 153 people, of whom 71 were living in extra care schemes. The service was run from an office in a business park close to the centre of Oldham, with disabled access and adequate parking space.

The service had a registered manager. 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. This service had not been previously inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the staff who provided their care and support.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities in protecting people from harm and knew how to report any concerns about people's safety or wellbeing.

We saw that safe recruitment processes were followed, and staff worked in small teams which helped to maintain consistency of care. People who used the service told us that having the same staff visiting was important to them and made them feel safe. We saw that staff had enough time with people to meet their assessed needs.

Care records identified specific risks to people, and care plans directed staff on how to minimise these risks. Where people required assistance with their medicines we saw that this was given safely by staff who had undertaken medicines competency and refresher training.

People received care and support from staff who had the skills and training to meet their needs.

We saw from training records that all new starters received a thorough induction and ongoing refresher training to maintain their competence. In addition to mandatory training subjects, staff were encouraged to develop their skills and interests with more specialist training provided in specific topics such as Life after a Stroke, and extended dementia training.

The registered manager and the care staff we spoke to demonstrated a good understanding of capacity and consent. Staff sought consent from people before providing support and they were aware of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act People were supported to have enough to eat and drink by staff who understood what support they required. People told us that they were offered choices about what they wanted and that food was prepared the way people preferred.

The service had established good links with healthcare professionals and ensured that people who used the service maintained good access to healthcare.

Staff were kind and caring and we observed that they had a relaxed and comfortable rapport with the people we visited, treating them with dignity and respect and encouraging people to maintain their independence. We saw that care was person centred, and recognised the individuality, culture and values of the people being supported. Care plans were written in a way that ensured the person who used the service was central to the planning of care, and gave people who used the service the opportunity to say how they wanted their care to be provided. People had input into their care plans and