This inspection was announced and took place on 6 September 2017. We gave the provider 48 hours’ of our intention to undertake the inspection. This was because the service provides domiciliary care to people in their own homes and we needed to make sure someone would be available at the office.

Testimony Assembly Care is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. A registered manager was in post and provides care along with a small team of staff. 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. At the time of our inspection five people received care and support services.

At the last inspection on 11 August 2016 we found that the provider needed to make some improvements to ensure safe systems for the recruitment of staff were in place. Improvements were also needed to ensure the provider kept us informed with changes to their registration, as they are required to; and monitored their practice to ensure it was in line with their policies. This inspection found improvements had been made and people were positive about the care and support they received and the service as a whole.

People were supported by staff who had received training in how to recognise possible signs of abuse and how to report any concerns. Staff were able to tell us of the needs of the people they provided care for and their roles and responsibilities in keeping people safe. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and were clear about the steps they would need to take if they suspected someone was unsafe.

People had their individual risks assessed and had plans in place to manage them. Medicines were administered by staff that had received training. The provider had arrangements in place to make sure that there were sufficient staff to provide support to people in their own homes. Staff said training helped them do their job and gave them the right skills to meet the needs of the people they supported.

Staff were caring and treated people with privacy and dignity and respected people’s homes and belongings. People were supported to maintain their independence.

People were involved in how their care and support was received; they were given choices and their wishes were respected by staff. Staff understood they could only care for and support people who consented to being cared for. Staff supported people with food and drink where needed and would arrange health appointments on people’s behalf if they asked.

People were encouraged to share their opinions about the quality of the service through reviews and visits with the management team and satisfaction questionnaires. People felt confident they could raise any issues should the need arise and that action would be taken.

The provider ensured regular checks were completed to monitor the quality of care that people received and look at where improvements could be made.

This inspection took place on 11 August 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Testimony Assembly Care Limited is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were two people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

This was the first inspection of this location since it was registered on in June 2015 The service was providing minimal support to two people. The provider told us they had not been able to develop the service due to the fact that the local authority had suspended purchasing a service from them. This suspension had just been lifted when we inspected the service. Whilst we looked at the systems that were in place to support people we were not able to see that these systems would be effective at this time as there was sufficient information at this time.

Systems in place to assess the risks to people whilst receiving care were available but were not sufficiently robust to take into account all risks. For example Therefore people may not be fully protected from unsafe care.

The provider was not following their own procedures in respect of how they recruited staff, so people were not always supported by staff for whom the appropriate checks had been carried out before they started their employment.

The provider had procedures in place to keep people safe from abuse and staff were trained and knew how to use the procedures.

Sufficient staff were available to support the two people currently using the service.

People needed minimal support with managing their medicines and staff was trained to offer this support.

Staff were confident they received the training, supervision and management support to ensure they did their job effectively.

Staff knew about people’s rights to make their own decisions and what action to take if they were concerned about people’s ability to do so.

Staff supported people with food and drink where needed. Staff knew how to respect people’s privacy and dignity and encouraged people’s independence.

The provider did not always keep us informed with changes to their registration, as they are required to and did not monitor their practice to ensure it was in line with their policies.