This inspection took place on 7,10 and 11 December 2018 and was announced. This meant we gave the provider short notice to make sure they would be available. This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered in November 2017.

POVA Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of our inspection, personal care and support was being delivered to five people.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 being recruited safely and there were enough staff to take care of people. People told us staff did not rush, arrived at the correct time and stayed for the agreed length of time. Staff were receiving appropriate training and support, including having their competency assessed. Staff supervision and appraisal was planned to discuss their ongoing development needs.

People who used the service and their relatives told us staff were helpful, attentive and caring. We saw people were treated with respect and compassion.

Care plans were up to date and detailed what care and support people wanted and needed, although some needed more detail. Risk assessments were in place and showed what action had been taken to mitigate any risks which had been identified. People felt safe and systems were in place to ensure appropriate referrals would be made to the safeguarding team when necessary.

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.

People’s healthcare needs were being met and medicines were mostly managed safely. At the time of our inspection, the service was not supporting anyone with their nutritional needs.

A complaints procedure was in place, but no concerns had been raised.

Everyone spoke highly of the registered manager and said they were approachable and supportive. Quality monitoring calls to people were in place. Most people had only recently started using the service and the registered manager was working to implement systems to monitor the quality of care provided to them.

We found all the fundamental standards were being met. Further information is in the detailed findings below.