The inspection took place on the 11 November 2016 and we followed up with telephone calls to people using the service or their families on 17 and 18 November 2017. This is a community based service that cares for people who live in their own homes in Buxton and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people receiving personal care.

The provider was given notice of the inspection, as this is a community based service where staff were often out during the day and we needed to make sure that someone would be available to meet us. The service was last inspected in 2014 when it was compliant in all areas inspected.

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.’

The service was safe. People were protected from the risk of harm and staff were trained in how to recognise abuse and report any concerns to the appropriate authorities. Risks to people were identified and appropriate management plans put in place to reduce the risk of harm to people. Accidents and incidents were reported and analysed and action taken to reduce the risk of similar incidents reoccurring.

People received copies of rotas each week so they knew who to expect at each visit. Environmental risk assessments were in place to manage the risks associated with staff providing a service in remote locations. There were contingency plans in place to enable the service to keep running during unexpected weather or travel incidents.

People were cared for by staff with the skills, knowledge and support to carry out their role effectively. Staff had access to information training and support to enable them to develop their practice and improve the care experience for people. Staff sought consent from people before caring for them. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and nutrition and fluid charts were maintained where needed to keep people healthy. People were supported to access community health services and received ongoing health care from appropriate professionals.

People were generally happy with the care they received from staff; who they described as very caring and kind. People told us that most staff were able to build respectful, caring relationships with them. However, some people were unhappy with the quality of care from a minority of staff; we found this was particularly relevant to the people who did not receive regular carers for their visits.

Some people were not happy with the timing of their calls. Calls were generally allocated within a time frame rather than fixed timing. Some people felt this time frame was too long, particularly for early morning or evening calls when they were either waiting to get up in the morning or having to go to bed earlier than they would prefer.

We recommended the provider looks at how they plan the rota, how they allocate care staff to individual people and how calls times are managed. They should also consider how all staff are supported to develop their caring and people skills, which in turn will enable them to improve their practice and the care experience for people.

The provider did respond where possible, to gender specific requests, with male and female carers. There was a complaints policy in place and people told us they knew how to use it. People were also consulted about the quality of the service and we saw the results of the latest ‘customer survey’ on display in the office and were discussed by staff in team meetings.

The registered manager was present throughout the inspection and spoke passionately about their plans for the service and the development of the staff. Staff were supported to contribute to service improvements and develop in