About the service: Star Care is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 40 people at the time of the inspection. The service cared for people that required one or two staff. People who used the service were both privately funded and local authority funded.

People’s experience of using this service:

At our inspection on 12 and 13 February 2019 we found that the registered provider was in breach of two regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We have therefore rated the service requires improvement overall.

Staff were not provided with the appropriate training to help them meet the needs of people who used the service. Training had not been kept up to date. We identified several shortfalls when checking staff training records.

The registered manager and director completed regular audits to ensure the service was running in line with their policies and procedures. However, audits were not always effective as they had not identified the shortfalls in relation to staff training. Action plans were not in place to address the shortfalls.

People and their relatives consistently told us that the service was reliable and provided them with good quality care.

People were confident to raise any concerns they had with the registered manager.

People had individual risk assessments so that staff had the information they needed to support them safely and minimise the identified risks.

People's medicines were being managed safely and administered by trained staff.

Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and protected them from harm. Plans were in place to recruit more staff. The service carried out pre-employment checks on staff before they worked with people to assess their suitability.

Peoples care and support was planned in a person-centred way and people chose how they liked their care to be delivered. People were supported by staff who were aware of people's life history and preferences and staff used this information to develop positive relationships.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people's independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The service was well-led by a dedicated management team who demonstrated compassion and commitment to the needs of the people who used the service as well as the staff who worked for them.

More information in Detailed Findings below.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection. The was the service’s first inspection since they registered with the CQC. This inspection was carried out to check that the service was meeting requirements and to rate the service.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until the next inspection. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.