Respectful Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It currently provides a service to older adults. Not everyone using Respectful Care receives regulated activity; 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.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

We carried out an announced inspection of the service on 16 July 2018. At the time of the inspection, 39 people received some element of support with their personal care. This is the service’s first inspection since they registered with us in May 2017.

The policies and systems in the service did not always support people to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Where people did not have the capacity to make some decisions, suitable systems were not in place to ensure assessments were carried out and decisions were made in their best interest. Staff had been trained to administer medicines and people felt they received their medicines when needed. However, improvements were needed to ensure all medicines were recorded. The provider’s policies needed to be reviewed to reflect current best practice guidance in these areas and we have made recommendations about developing these.

Potential risks were identified and management plans were in place to guide staff on the best way to reduce these risks. Staff understood their role in protecting people from harm and poor care. There were recruitment procedures in place to ensure staff were suitable to work within a caring environment. People felt there were enough staff working in the service and were supported by a small team who knew them well. Staff had access to training to improve their knowledge of care and enhance their skills.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff supported people to maintain their dignity, independence and privacy. Staff gained information about what was important to people so that they could provide care that met their preferences. People were treated with dignity and respect and their wishes acted on so they received individualised care that reflected their personal preferences and needs. People were supported with their meals and other health and social care agencies were involved where further support was needed for people.

People had a support plan which recorded their personal preferences for the way they wanted their care to be provided and was reviewed. People felt concerns would be listened to and the registered manager was approachable. Staff felt valued and respected and felt able to contribute to the development of the service. Quality assurance systems were in place to identify concerns and drive improvements.