St Jude’s Care is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 60 people, 18 of these received 24 hour support from staff. The service was run from an office in Weymouth.

The service had a registered manager. 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 were aware of their responsibilities in protecting people from harm and knew how to report any concerns about people's safety or wellbeing. People had individual risk assessments giving staff the guidance and information they needed to support people safely.

People were supported by staff who were recruited safely and were familiar to them. People and relatives felt that staff had the sufficient skills and knowledge to support them and we saw that staff had access to relevant training for their role. Staff received regular supervision and appraisals and we saw that they also had competency checks to ensure that they had the necessary skills.

Staff understood what support people needed to manage their medicines safely and these were given as prescribed. There were processes in place to audit the accuracy of recording medicines.

Staff understood how to support people to make choices about the care they received, and encouraged people to make decisions about their care. Assessments reflected that the service was working within the framework of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Where people received support from staff to eat and drink sufficiently, we saw that staff offered choices and prepared foods in the way people liked.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring in their approach. Staff understood people’s likes and preferences and promoted independence. People told us that staff were respectful of their homes and treated them with dignity.

People had individualised care plans which were person centred and focussed on what goals people wanted to achieve. People received support to access health services when required.

People told us that they received a rota each week letting them know what staff were due to visit at what times. Where changes were needed to visits, or where staff were running late, people told us that the office made contact to let them know. People and relatives told us that they would be confident to complain if they needed to.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the management of the service. We were told that the office were easy to contact and friendly and that the manager was approachable.

Staff were encouraged to raise issues and discuss queries and felt valued in their role. There were regular staff meetings where practice and ideas were discussed. .

Quality assurance measures were regular and the information was used to monitor and drive high quality care.