The inspection was announced and took place on 15 September 2016.

The provider is registered with us to provide personal care and support for people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection three people received care and support from this service.

A registered manager was 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.

People we spoke with told us that they felt safe with staff supporting them. Staff were able to tell us of the needs of the people they provided care for and their roles and responsibilities in keeping people safe. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and were clear about the steps they would take if they suspected someone was unsafe.

People told us they could talk to staff and management if they had any concerns and they would be listened to. People said staff were available to them to meet their needs. Currently people did not require support with their medicines but staff had received training if this support was needed.

Staff said training helped them do their job and gave them the right skills to meet the needs of the people they supported. Specialist training was also available if required to support people’s needs.

People we spoke with were positive about the care that they received and told us staff were caring. Staff treated people with privacy and dignity. Staff respected people’s homes and belongings and people were supported to maintain their independence. Staff supported people to prepare meals and ensured people had a choice of meals and drinks.

People were involved in how their care and support was received. People were given choices and their wishes were respected by staff. Staff understood they could only care for and support people who consented to being cared for. People told us responded when they were unwell and that care staff arranged health appointments on their behalf if they asked.

People who used the service were able to raise concerns and the provider had a system to deal with any complaints. People were regularly asked if they were happy with the service provided. There were systems in place to ensure that people’s views and opinions were heard and their wishes acted upon.

People were positive about the care and support they received. The management team ensured regular checks were completed to monitor the quality of the care that people received and action had been taken where areas were identified for improvement.

The service provided support for up to 32 people who lived in their own homes. The service provided personal care, supported living or ‘home help’ services for people with hearing loss who may have additional care needs, such as a learning disability, may be on the autistic spectrum or have a diagnosed mental illness. The service aimed to offer personalised services that supported people to live as independently as possible and to reach their full potential as a valued member of the community.

We contacted the service prior to our inspection to agree a suitable time to inspect. We made these arrangements at short notice and to ensure that the registered manager was available and because we needed access to the information and records to help us to form a judgement about the service’s compliance with the regulations we inspected against.

People told us they were happy with the support they received, we observed a good rapport between support staff and the people they provided a service to.

People had copies of their assessments and plans of care. Information they held was produced in formats that made it easier for them to understand, this may have been in a simple language, supported by photographs or pictures.

We found that robust recruitment procedures were in place and staff received the training and the support they needed to fulfill their role.

The service had systems in place for monitoring and improving the quality of service provided.