This inspection took place on 13 and 14 March 2018 and was announced. Thames Care is a Domiciliary Care Agency, it provides personal care to people with a variety of needs living in their own homes. At the time of inspection the service was delivering personal care to fifty-two people living in their own homes.

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.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People told us they felt safe. Staff received appropriate training in safeguarding and understood their responsibilities in relation to protecting people. The service had systems in place to notify the relevant authorities in the event of a safeguarding concern.

People had their needs assessed and received appropriate person centred care that was individualised to their specific needs. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people's rights were promoted. People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were supported by staff who were knowledgeable about their needs and provided support with compassion and kindness. People received high quality care that was personalised and met their needs effectively. People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity were promoted.

Staff felt the management was very supportive and they had good communication. The service had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the running of the service and improve the quality of the service being delivered

We have made a recommendation that the provider review people’s communication needs in line with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS)

Further information is in the detailed findings below

This inspection took place on 10 and 11 March 2016 and was announced. Right at Home (Reading) is a domiciliary care service. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 43 people living in their own homes.

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 were happy with the service they received from Right at Home (Reading) and felt safe using the service. There were systems in place to manage risks to people and staff. People were kept safe by staff who were trained and had a good awareness of the policies and procedures used to safeguard people.

Recruitment systems were effective and helped to ensure only suitable people were employed by the service. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed. Staff were matched to people using the service whenever possible to ensure they were compatible with each other. Staff received training to ensure they had the skills to care for people safely and effectively. There was a system in place to manage medicines safely.

People felt well cared for and said they were involved in planning their care. People’s right to make decisions was protected and staff sought people’s consent before support was provided. People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect and told us they made decisions about their care.

People were confident in the service to listen and to act on their views which were sought in a number of ways. People’s care and support needs were reviewed regularly with them and up to date information was communicated to staff promptly to ensure appropriate care was provided.

Staff were knowledgeable about actions to take in emergency situations. They contacted healthcare professionals to seek advice regarding people’s well-being when necessary.

Staff spoke highly of the registered manager and were comfortable to approach him for advice and guidance. They told us they were supported well by the whole management team and felt they were listened to if they raised concerns. Action was taken promptly to manage any concerns raised.

The registered manager monitored the quality of the service in a variety of ways. This included gaining regular feedback from people using the service and conducting audits. Improvements had been made as a result of feedback received.

We looked at the care plans for eight people and saw that the provider had completed a wide variety of assessments to ensure the safety and well being of people. Each care plan was signed and agreed by people and the provider had taken consideration of the capacity of people to make good decisions. Daily notes were present which detailed all care that had taken place and we noted that the same staff looked after people on a regular basis.

We spoke with seven people who told us the staff were "fantastic" and "warm and friendly" and they felt they were well trained. They told us the manager was approachable and they felt they listened to their preferences and provided the care that they wanted. People told us the manager was really "efficient and organised" and was flexible if they needed to change times of visits if necessary, which they found really helpful. One person told us they saw the carers as "friends" as they felt they had built good relationships with the staff as they saw the same people consistently.

The staff told us they felt the training was "excellent" and they enjoyed caring for people. They told us they felt supported to perform their role and felt the provider and manager were always available when needed.

People expressed their views and were involved in making choices about their care. People we spoke with told us staff treated them with respect and supported them to make their own choices. One person said staff “respect the person.” A relative of one person using the service said the manager “made sure they involved my relative in deciding what care he wanted to be provided.”

We spoke with staff and looked at people's care plans and found their needs were assessed, and care and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual needs.

People using the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. People told us they trusted staff and felt safe in their care.

The provider had a robust recruitment process in place to ensure people who use the service were not placed at risk of being cared for by inappropriate staff.

The provider had a system for monitoring the quality of service provided. Documentation we looked at showed feedback from provider quality monitoring visits and people using the service was acted upon to improve the service. There were processes in place to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people using the service and others.