We carried out this inspection on 31 October 2016. The inspection was unannounced. We concluded the inspection on 1 November 2016 with telephone calls to relatives of people who used the service, to gather evidence to support the inspection findings.

The service provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were five people using the service.

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.

People told us or demonstrated that they felt safe and they trusted the staff who supported them.

Staffing levels were appropriate to meet people’s needs in a timely way, although some people relatives and staff said they thought bank staff were used too often.

Support plans for aspects of people’s safety were well documented including people’s ability to communicate and how to ensure medicines were administered safely.

Staff had a good understanding of how to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse.

There was evidence of regular staff training recorded on individual files and the management team were aware of where training needed updating. Induction was detailed for new staff and regular supervision meetings ensured staff were supported in their role.

Care was person-centred and staff were clearly focused on meeting people’s needs in an individual way. Staff treated people with kindness, respect and dignity. Equality and diversity was promoted throughout people’s care records.

Care records documented people’s individual preferences and how their support should be given, with regular planning and review of people’s needs.

Procedures were in place to manage concerns, complaints and compliments about the service. Feedback was welcomed and shared with staff.

Management of the service illustrated a clear overview of the strengths and areas to improve, and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Processes were in place for monitoring the quality of the provision and documentation which supported the running of the regulated activity was accessible and up to date.

We did not identify any breaches in regulation.

In this report we have been asked by the provider to refer to people using the service as clients.

On the day of our inspection we visited the main office, where we spoke with the manager and the two deputy managers. The manager told us they were new in post and were applying to become the registered manager for the service.

We found that one of the three locations (Fenton Street) had been closed down due to being decommissioned. The managers explained that the staff and clients had transferred to a new service which had recently opened in Huddersfield. On the day of our visit the Woodside Lane house had two clients living there and the Colders Lane house had three clients living there; one of these was there on a temporary basis, to provide the family with respite.

Due to the complex needs of the clients using the service we were not able to speak with them to ask for their views. Instead we spoke with two relatives of clients living at the Colders Lane house and a behavioural nurse from the local Community Assessment Team.

The two relatives we spoke with were both parents of clients at Colders Lane. They told us they were very happy with the care provided. One told us “He seems fine, he’s settled in there really well. That’s his home now. He gets plenty of activities including horse riding, going out for meals and going for long walks. It’s nice that he has a male keyworker as a role model”.

The other relative said “She’s been at Colders Lane for about six weeks and I’ve visited her a few times. I’m quite happy with the care there, everything seems okay. I sign things on her behalf”.

The behavioural nurse from the local Community Assessment Team told us they had been involved in supporting the two clients living at Woodside Lane. They told us one of the clients living there was a ‘real success story’. They told us this client was originally quite scary and threatening and with the right support this client has settled down and seems very happy there. They told us the house has a good mix of mature and younger staff who work hard to understand the challenging behaviours of the clients living there.

During the visit we spoke with one support worker at the Woodhouse Lane house. They told us St Anne’s was a good company to work for and they felt confident the service provided was good. They told us staff worked together well as a team to provide the support the clients needed. They told us the clients they worked with could be very challenging at times. They said staff received appropriate training for their role and they felt well-supported. They said “I’ve worked for St Anne’s for eight years. I quite like the house I am at; I like working here.”

In this report we have been asked by the provider to refer to people using the service as clients.

On the day of our inspection we visited the main office, where we spoke with the Registered Manager and a Deputy Manager. We also visited the house at Woodside Lane which was home to three clients and a day centre attended by one client.

During our visit, we spoke with two of the clients. One of them told us they were “happy with everything” and the other told us the house they lived at was “brilliant, the staff are all nice and we all get on”. During our visit we saw and heard evidence that clients were consulted regularly about their care and treatment.

During and after the visit we spoke with three support workers who told us St Anne’s was a good company to work for and they felt confident the service provided was good. We saw evidence they received appropriate training for their role and they told us they felt well-supported. They told us they would be happy for a family member or friend to be cared for by the service. One support worker told us “I feel the clients are getting good care” and another said “St Anne’s is one of the best, care-wise”. They told us they had enough time to care for the clients and always ensured client's privacy and dignity were respected.

The support workers we spoke with could tell us what they would do if they saw abuse happening or if someone reported abuse to them.