The inspection took place on 18, 19, April 2018 and was announced. This meant we gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of our intended visit to ensure someone would be available in the office to meet us. This was the first inspection of the service since the registration changed in December 2016.

This service is a domiciliary care agency based in Darlington. It provides personal care and other additional support to people living in their own homes throughout the Darlington area. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and children with a wide range of health and social care needs including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health needs and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 114 people receiving a service.

Not everyone using the service receives regulated activity; The Care Quality Commission (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.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the 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. The registered manager had extensive experience of working in the social care sector.

We found during this inspection that some notifications of significant events were not always submitted as required to the CQC from the registered manager regarding missed calls.

Medicines administration was safe this was regularly audited and staff competencies monitored by senior staff however we found that some recording was unclear in one person’s record we viewed. This was amended immediately by the registered manager.

People were supported to take risks safely and personalised risk assessments were in place to ensure people were protected against a range of risks.

Staff had received safeguarding training and were able to describe types of abuse and what they could do to report concerns and protect people.

Staff recruitment was carried out safely with robust safety checks in place for new staff.

New staff received induction training and were accompanied and supported by dedicated mentors called ‘care coaches’ to enhance their induction and extend if necessary.

People were supported to have choice and control over their own lives from being supported by person centred care approaches. Person centred care is when the person is central to their support and their preferences are respected.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs safely, with travel time included and supervision checks undertaken to ensure staff completed care visits as agreed.

Staff were trained in safeguarding, first aid, moving and handling, Mental Capacity Act, infection control and food hygiene. Additional training was in place or planned in areas specific to people’s individual needs.

Staff had a good knowledge of people’s likes, dislikes, preferences, mobility and communicative needs. People we spoke with gave us positive feedback regarding staff and how their needs were met.

People were supported to maintain their independence by staff that understood and valued the importance of this.

Care plans were sufficiently detailed and person-centred, giving members of staff and external professionals relevant information when providing care to people who used the service. Care plans were reviewed regularly and with the involvement of people who used the service and their relatives.

The registered manager displayed a sound understanding of capacity and the need for consent on a decision-specific basis. Consent was documented in people’s care files and people we spoke with confirmed staff asked for their conse