About the service: Riverside Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 46 people receiving the regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service: The service supported people to remain independent within their own homes. People and relatives were very complimentary about the service and the care provided by staff. People said they were treated kindly, respectfully and had their dignity upheld by staff.

People received personalised care which was created in partnership with them and other health professionals. People had their needs fully assessed and regularly reviewed for any changes. Risk assessments were in place to help keep people safe.

People were supported to be independent, maintain social relationships and supported to attend activities that they had chosen in the community.

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.

Staff continued to receive regular training and new staff were provided with an in-depth induction programme to provide them with all the necessary skills to support people. The registered manager put people at the heart of the organisation.

The service monitored aspects of the quality and safety of care in ‘real-time’ and audited the service regularly through the governance framework in place.

Medicines were safely managed. Staff supported people with their medication appropriately and worked in partnership with GPs and other health care professionals to regularly review people's medication and assess their needs.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published June 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the previous inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through information we receive from the service, provider, the public and partnership agencies. We will re-visit the service in-line with our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

This inspection took place on 3 and 4 May 2016 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because Riverside Homecare provides personal care for people who live in their own homes and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office.

At the time of our inspection 49 people used the service.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The registered manager was also the provider of the 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 felt safe with the staff who provided their care and felt they were protected from the risk harm. Staff recognised signs of abuse and knew how to report this. The registered manager ensured people’s risks had been looked at and took actions to minimise risks without taking away people’s right to make their own choices.

People told us there were enough staff to support them at the times they needed them. Staff told us they felt there were enough staff to provide safe care and support to people. The registered manager told us that advanced planning of staffing levels meant they knew that people’s calls were able to be met. People’s medicines were checked and managed in a safe way.

We found that the care and support people received was in-line with their consent and agreement. Staff we spoke with understood and recognised the importance of gaining a person’s consent before carrying out any personal care for the person.

People were supported to eat a healthy balanced diet and were supported with enough fluids to keep them healthy. Staff supported people with access to healthcare professionals, and provided flexible times to ensure they made their doctor or hospital appointments.

People and where appropriate, family members, were involved in the planning around their care. People’s views and decisions they had made about their care were listened to and acted upon. People told us that staff treated them kindly, with dignity and their privacy was respected.

People knew how to make a complaint and felt comfortable to do this should they feel they needed to. People were provided with the information they needed should they wish to raise a complaint. People told us they felt that if they had raised any concerns they would be dealt with. The provider had not received any complaints over the last 12 months.

We found that the checks the registered manager completed focused upon the experiences people received. Where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure that lessons were learnt and used to improve staff practice. Staff felt supported by the registered manager to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively.