This inspection took place on 11 June 2018 and was announced. We told the provider two working days before our visit that we would be coming because the location provides a domiciliary care service for people in their own homes and staff might be out visiting people.

The service is a domiciliary care agency and is registered to provide both personal care and treatment of disease, disorder or injury to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults some of whom could be living with dementia or a mental health condition. The service also provides a service to people with learning disabilities or physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection, the provider was offering a service of personal care to all six people.

This was the service’s first inspection following their registration with the Care Quality Commission in June 2017. 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 and relatives spoke positively about the service provided by the care staff. They described them as kind and caring. They said that the registered manager was approachable, they could raise any concerns and felt the agency was run in a professional manner.

People said they felt safe with the care staff. The care staff had received safeguarding adult training and could tell us how they would recognise and report signs of abuse appropriately.

The registered manager recruited enough care staff to meet people’s support needs in a safe manner. They trained staff to ensure they had the knowledge, skills and confidence to undertake their work well. Care staff told us they were well supported and were encouraged to regard their work as a career pathway. Care staff good practice was recognised and celebrated.

People had person centred plans that informed the care staff how people wanted their care provided. People signed to give their consent to the care given. Where people might not have the capacity to consent to their care and treatment mental capacity assessments were undertaken and when appropriate best interest decisions were made in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Care plans informed staff how people communicated and care staff told us how they gave people choice in their everyday life.

The registered manager undertook assessments to identify risks to people’s safety and put in place measures to mitigate the risks. Risks assessed included medicines management. People who required support to take their medicines were supported by care staff that had received training to do this.

People were supported to eat and drink enough. The registered manager and director were clinically trained and liaised with health care professionals on behalf of people and their relatives where this was required.

The registered manager had systems in place to check the quality of the service provided and encouraged people’s feedback on their experience of receiving care in several ways to help make improvements.

The director and the registered manager both managed the day to day running of the agency and had developed a strong ethos and values that they promoted with both the care staff and people to whom they offered a service. They were working to build links with the local community and local authorities to sustain and develop the service.