Sans Soucie Home Care Limited is domiciliary care agency supporting people with a range of needs including learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and people living with dementia. Not everyone using Sans Soucie Home Care Limited 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. At the point of our inspection there were eight people supported by the service who were receiving a regulated activity.

The service had 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.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained good.

Staff were aware of the safeguarding process and knew how to keep people safe from risk of abuse.

Risk assessments were appropriately recorded and managed. This included in-depth risk assessments on people’s health needs.

Medicines administration and recording procedures were correct.

Lessons were learned where things had gone wrong to improve the service. The registered manager was open and transparent about previous issues with missed calls and how these were dealt with.

Pre- admission assessments were thorough to ensure that people’s needs could be met before the service started delivering care to them.

There were effective methods of communication between the team and other organisations.

People were supported to have access to a range of healthcare professionals including occupational therapists.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible. Staff were aware of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and people’s rights were protected.

Reviews of people’s care plans included all relevant parties involved in their care.

People and relatives told us that staff were kind and caring. They also promoted people’s independence where possible. In some cases, this had led to employment opportunities.

Care plans were person-centred and focused on what was important to people and their families.

Concerns and complaints were dealt with appropriately and monitored for trends. The registered manager ensured that people and their relatives were happy with the outcome of the complaint raised.

Staff and relatives felt that the registered manager was approachable.

There were auditing systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of care provided.

People, relatives and staff were engaged in the running of the service through surveys, questionnaires and meetings.

There were close working partnerships with other organisations.

This inspection was carried out on the 8 January 2016. Sans Soucie Home Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care for people with a variety of needs including learning disabilities and people living with dementia. The service provides personal care to seven people.

On the day of our visit the registered manager was on annual leave. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

There were sufficient numbers of skilled and experienced staff deployed to support the people who used the service.

Systems were in place to ensure that people who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of procedures to follow to safeguard people from abuse.

There were clear plans for staff to show what care was needed for people. Care plans were written in a personalised way based on the needs of the person concerned.

People were cared for by kind, respectful staff. Relatives told us they thought staff understood their family members and cared for them well. People and their relatives told us they were often supported by regular staff who knew their needs and preferences well.

One person told us they were involved in decisions about their care and were kept informed. Relatives we spoke with told us they were always consulted and felt involved.

People were offered support in a way that upheld their dignity and promoted their independence. Staff said they would they would ensure that they treated people with respect and dignity.

People were supported at mealtimes to have food and drink of their choice and what was appropriate to their needs. Staff always ensured that meals and drinks were provided to people.

People’s rights were being upheld as required by the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. This is a law that provides a framework to protect people who do not have mental capacity to give their consent or make certain decisions for themselves. Staff were aware of their responsibilities through appropriate training in regards to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service that people received.

There were clear records of audits undertaken for example in relation to people’s care plans and medicine charts. Improvements had been made in relation to feedback from people and relatives.