About the service: Select Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older adults and adults with learning disabilities and mental health conditions living in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were safe. Risk assessments were in place and were reviewed regularly. Staff were trained in recognising signs of abuse and knew how and where to report it. Safe recruitment procedures ensured that suitable staff were employed. Medicines were managed safely by trained staff. Staff ensured the spread of infection was prevented by using good hand washing techniques and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves aprons and hand gels.

People’s choices, lifestyle, religion and culture and health care needs were all included in the care planning process. People were supported to access health care services when they needed them, and the service worked in partnership with healthcare professionals. An induction and training program ensured staff had the knowledge, skills and confidence to do their job.

A pre-admission assessment meant the service was confident it had the right staff available to support people prior to care starting. Regular care reviews and vigilant staff meant changes in people’s needs were promptly recognised and actioned. People’s needs were met by good planning and coordination of care. People received care in line with the law and guidance and were supported in the least restrictive way possible.

People received care from staff who were kind and compassionate. People were fully involved in their care. The service had worked in partnership with people to overcome communication barriers, helping people to express themselves. A diverse range of religions and cultures were supported and respected across the whole service. Staff promoted and supported independence and provided dignified care. The service recognised where extra support for people would be beneficial to health and wellbeing and had implemented a scheme to support.

People, their relatives and staff found the provider and management team approachable and supportive. Complaints were investigated and resolved promptly. The provider and registered manager had an effective quality monitoring processes in place which meant they maintained good oversight of the service. We saw that learning and development was encouraged, and staff felt confident in their role. The provider, registered manager and management team all worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure good outcomes for people.

Rating at last inspection: This service was previously rated good on 3 and 4 August 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service is rated good overall.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.

This inspection took place on 3 August 2016 and was announced. We returned on the 4 August 2016 to complete the inspection. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be at the office.

Select Care Services Limited – 109 Coleman Road is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people living in their own homes. The office is based in the city of Leicester and the service currently provides care and support to people living in Leicester. At the time of our inspection there were 120 people using the service. People’s packages of care varied dependent upon their needs. The provider employed 100 care staff.

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 told us they felt safe with the staff and the care they received. People were kept safe from the risk of harm. Staff knew how to recognise the signs of abuse and understood their responsibility to report concerns and protect people from harm.

Risk to people’s safety and health had been assessed and measures were in place to manage these risks. People were involved in the development of their care plans and staff had clear information to help keep people safe. People were supported by trained staff to take their medicines.

There were robust staff recruitment, induction and training processes in place to ensure staff were safe, suitable and trained to provide care and support to people living in their own homes.

People were supported by the number of staff identified in their care plans to keep them safe and meet their needs. Care was taken to ensure people were supported by a team of staff with the appropriate knowledge and skills. Staff were matched with people’s known requirements such as individual preferences, cultural or diverse needs and where the person’s first language was not English. People confirmed they had consistent staff who stayed for the full length of time allocated and arrived on time.

People were involved in the decisions made about their care needs and in the development of their care plan. The registered manager and staff had a good understanding about how the service was required to uphold the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005). Staff sought people’s consent before they provided support and respected their choices and decisions made.

Staff supported some people, where required with their meals and drinks. Records showed people were supported to maintain their health and accessed healthcare services when required.

People told us that they were happy with the support they received and felt staff understood and knew how to support them. People were complimentary about the staff and found them to be kind and caring and had developed positive relationships with them.

People’s privacy and dignity was maintained, their choice of lifestyle was respected and their independence was promoted. Staff were aware of people’s cultural needs and used a form of address which was seen to be respectful of elders within the Asian community. This promoted continuity of care and had a consistent approach in the delivery of care.

People’s needs were met by reliable staff who knew how to support people. Feedback from people and their relatives showed the staff were friendly, open, and caring. People and their relatives told us staff were responsive. The management team were proactive and took account of cultural needs and were flexible to ensure people received the care they needed at times that suited them, which could vary at different times of the year.

There was a complaints procedure and people knew how to use it. Peo

People told us they had their dignity, privacy and independence respected and the staff treated them with respect. One person said, “The carers are always lovely to me. They are part of my family now.”

People said they thought the care the agency provided was good and they got on well with the staff. One person told us, “The girls are very caring and always willing to go that extra mile when they visit.”

People told us that if they had any concerns they could raise them with the agency. One person said, “If I had a complaint I would call the office but I’ve never had to do that as the girls are so good.”

People said they were happy with the staff team. One person told us, “The carers are a great bunch of girls who go out of their way to be helpful and some of them have been absolutely brilliant.” Another said, “There have been quite a few changes of staff but overall we are satisfied with the agency.”

One person told us that staff timekeeping was generally good, but on rare occasions staff had been late or had left early. The provider might find it useful to note this concern and take action to try and prevent it happening again.

People told us the agency gave them the opportunity to comment on the service. One person said, “I am extremely pleased with the agency in every way and the manager is very helpful. If I don’t ‘click’ with a carer she has always been happy to send someone else.”

We recently undertook an inspection visit to Select Care Services Limited - 109 Coleman Road on 16, 17 and 18 September 2014. We spoke with four people who used the service and five relatives whose family member who used the service. We reviewed seven people’s care records. We spoke with ten care staff supporting people, three management staff and the registered manager. We reviewed five staff files, and training information for all the care and management staff. We also reviewed the records in relation to the management of the service. We reviewed the information received information from the local authority and the provider. We considered all the evidence we had gathered under the outcomes we inspected.

Is the service safe?

People who used the service told us that they were satisfied with the care and support they received. Relatives we spoke with told us that they had regular care staff that helped to ensure that support they received was consistent and reliable. One person said “I wasn’t sure what to expect but for me the care is excellent.”

Care staff we spoke with showed a good understanding of each person’s needs and how they wished to be supported. Support plans and risk assessments were personalised and had sufficient guidance for care staff to follow to help keep people safe.

Care staff were trained to look after vulnerable people and how to protect them for any harm or abuse. Systems were in place to help ensure people were supported to look after their own money.

Is the service effective?

People who used the service were satisfied with support they received because they had regular care staff who knew how to support them. People were involved in their care, their needs and risks had been identified and measures were put in place to minimise those risks. A relative said “I have very good carers for my … [family member receiving the care]. They teach me things from any training they have been on. They seem to get a lot of training.”

People’s care and support had been reviewed regularly to help ensure any new needs could be met properly and risks managed. Care records and staff training records we looked at showed that people’s care needs were met by trained staff.

Care staff understood the needs of people they supported. They received information about people’s needs and could refer to the up to date support plans kept in people’s own homes.

Care staff told us they were supported and had received training for their job role. Practical training was provided in the use of specific equipment to help support people, such as a hoist and a stand aid amongst others. Personal protective equipment was available for care staff to use including disposable gloves and aprons. This helped to ensure care and support provided was in line the provider’s procedures, best practice and protected the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone.

Is the service caring?

People told us that they were happy with most of the care staff and the support they received. They found care staff were kind, caring and that they were treated with respect. One person said “I’ve got very good carers, which I’m grateful for.”

Relatives we spoke with also expressed no concerns about the care staff or the support provided to their family member.

Is this service responsive?

People’s needs had been assessed before the care package started. This helped to make sure that the service would be able to provide the care and support they needed. People had been involved in reviewing their care needs to help make sure that any new needs would be met reliably. One person explained their when they became poorly the care staff acted quickly and sought emergency medical support. That demonstrated that care staff had been trained to respond to emergencies.

The provider had systems in place to support care staff and people who used the service in the event of an emergency. The service had an ‘emergency team’ that provided care and support in the event of an emergency or staff absence at short notice. An ‘on-call’ service operated outside of the normal office hours, which meant that the manager or a senior staff member was available to support staff and to deal with any queries that arose.

Is this service well led?

People received an information pack when they first started to use the service which included a copy of the provider’s statement of purpose. These documents explained the aims and objectives of the service, what people could expect from the service themselves and how to make a complaint. This helped to assure the provider that people were fully informed about the service.

People knew how to contact the service and to make a complaint. Satisfaction surveys had been used. This provided people who used the service and their relatives with an opportunity to share their views about the support they received and enabled the provider to monitor the quality of service being provided. One person said “Care agency is very good, all very organised and will call you to let you know if there’s a change.”

Care staff were trained and supported to carry out their job role effectively, safely and reliably. Regular checks were carried out on staff to help assure the provider that people’s needs were met safely, timely and reliably.

The provider had a range of systems in place to assure themselves that the quality of care and support provided was monitored. Audits and checks were carried out routinely. The provider took account of all complaints, compliments and learnt lessons from incidents to help prevent it from happening again.