This announced inspection took place over two days on 12 and 13 April 2017. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides domiciliary care and support to people living in their own homes and we wanted to make sure staff would be available to talk to us about the service. The service was last inspected on 03 July 2015 where they were rated as overall good, with requiring improvement under Well-led. At this inspection we found there had been progress but further improvement was required.

Sister Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal and nursing care to people living in their own homes. The service currently provides care and support for 30 people, ranging in age, gender, ethnicity and disability.

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 provider had not kept us informed of all notifiable incidents and events, that they are required to by law and this required some improvement.

People were kept safe because staff had a good knowledge of current safeguarding practices and how to apply these when supporting people. People received safe care because risks had been identified and were managed to minimise the risk of harm to people Sufficient numbers of staff were available to ensure people received support as they wanted. People were supported to receive their medicine safely and as prescribed.

People were assisted by suitably trained staff that had the knowledge and skills they needed to do their job effectively. Most people felt staff had a good knowledge of their care and support needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives as much as was practicable and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the provider’s policies and systems supported this practice. People were complimentary about the quality of food staff prepared for them and told us they were supported in their choice of meal. Health care professionals were involved in supporting people to maintain their health and wellbeing.

People were supported by caring and kind staff who demonstrated a positive regard for the people they were supporting. People had been encouraged to be as independent as possible in all aspects of their lives. Care was planned and reviewed with each person and, where appropriate, their relatives, to ensure the care provided continued to meet people’s needs.

People and their relatives were aware of how to raise concerns or make complaints and were generally happy with how the service was managed. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service which included seeking feedback from the people who used the service and their relatives.

The provider had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the care and support people received. Systems were effective in identifying and resolving issues.

This inspection took place on 3 July 2015 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides domiciliary care and we wanted to make sure staff would be available. This was the first inspection for this location following registration with us in November 2013.

Sister Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The service currently provides care and support for 27 people, ranging in age, gender, ethnicity and disability. 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.

Staff knew how to reduce the risk of harm to people from abuse and unsafe practice. The risk of harm to people receiving the service was assessed. Where people required assistance with taking their medicine, there were procedures in place to support them to do so safely.

People and staff felt there were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. There were procedures in place to recruit staff safely.

People who used the service and their relatives felt safe and secure with staff coming into their homes. They felt staff had the skills and knowledge to care and support them in their homes. Staff were trained and supported to that they had the knowledge and skills to enable them to care for people in a way that met their needs and preferences. Where appropriate, people were supported by staff to access other health and social care professionals when needed. The provider was taking the appropriate action to protect people’s rights.

Staff were caring and treated people with dignity and respect. People’s independence was respected and promoted and staff responded to people’s support needs.

People felt they could speak with staff about their worries or concerns and they would be listened to and have their concerns addressed.

The provider had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the care and support people received. Systems were effective in identifying errors. Once identified, a senior staff member would investigate and resolve to people’s satisfaction. However, the processes did not record always record the outcome and what measures were taken to prevent a re-occurrence of similar errors.