Wessex Care Community Services is a small Domiciliary Care Agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community in and around Salisbury. It provides a service to older adults, younger adults, people who have dementia, a physical disability and people who have a learning disability. The inspection was announced to make sure the manager was available to facilitate the inspection. We visited the office on the 5 December 2017 and obtained feedback from people who use the service on the 6 and 8 December 2017.

Not everyone using Wessex Care Community Services receives regulated activity; the Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people receiving personal care.

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 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe and were complimentary about their care workers. People had risk assessments where needed and measures put in place to keep them safe as far as was practical. People were supported to take their medicines safely.

Staff had received training which covered a broad range of topics. All staff received regular supervision and were able to attend team meetings. All the staff told us they felt valued and well supported.

Staff were kind and caring and knew the people they supported well. People were supported by the same worker to enable continuity of care and the time to build up relationships.

The service was very flexible and responded to what people wanted and needed without delay. Relatives told us the end of life care they had experienced was exceptional.

Complaints had been responded to in a timely way and fully investigated in accordance with the provider’s complaints procedure. The service had received many compliments.

There were robust quality assurance systems in place, which monitored the service and involved people in sharing their views about their care packages.

Staff were provided with cars to use for their visits and were all on contracted hours so they were paid for all of their time at work including traveling between visits.

The service was exceptionally well-led. The senior management team were praised by all we spoke with for their caring manner, open and approachable management style. Care workers all told us of the excellent training, fantastic supervision and support they received.

People told us staff respected their privacy and dignity at all times during the visits. One person said, “they (staff) are respectful and will knock on the door”, another told us “they listen to me, and are like one of the family.”

The care plans were supported by an overview of risks and detailed individual risk assessments in areas where the need was identified, such as prevention of pressure ulcers. People’s records also contained general risk assessments such as moving and handing. The risk assessments were positively focused on enabling people to maintain their quality of life.

People had the opportunity to comment on their care at three monthly care reviews. We saw two care review records which indicated the people were very happy with the care they had received. We also saw a comment from a District Nurse who had written “well done to all the staff, and keep up the good work”.

There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs.

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the forms of abuse that could occur, and of their role to report when they suspected someone was at risk.

Wessex Care Community Service provides a care at home service for adults in Salisbury and the surrounding villages. At the time of our inspection 16 people were receiving personal care from Wessex Care Community Service. The service was last inspected in May 2013 and was found to be meeting all of the standards assessed.

This inspection took place on 16 November 2015. We returned on 26 November 2015 to complete the inspection. This was an announced inspection which meant the provider knew two days before we would be visiting. This was because the location provides a home care service. We wanted to make sure the registered manager would be available to support our inspection, or someone who could act on their behalf.

There was a registered manager in post at the service. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People who use the service and their relatives were positive about the care they received and praised the quality of the staff and management. Comments from people included, “They’re a marvellous lot the carers, they work well” . One person said if they were distressed, the care worker would stay longer to reassure them. A relative also expressed satisfaction with the caring way staff supported their family member, commenting, “I’m very happy with the care my (relative) receives. It works out well and he is very happy”.

People told us they felt safe when receiving care and were involved in developing and reviewing their care plans. Systems were in place to protect people from abuse and harm and staff knew how to use them. One person said they looked forward to the care worker coming and another said they were confident staff knew what they were doing. People said the care workers generally arrived on time, and they would receive a call to inform them if there were any problems. A relative told us they were very happy with the service provided and didn’t have any concerns about the safety of their family member.

Staff understood the needs of the people they were providing care for. Staff were appropriately trained and skilled. They received a thorough induction when they started working for the service and demonstrated a good understanding of their role and responsibilities. Staff had completed training to ensure the care and support provided to people was safe and effective to meet their needs.

The service was responsive to people’s needs and wishes. People had regular meetings to provide feedback about their care and there was an effective complaints procedure. People said they had no complaints about the service they received, however they knew who to contact if they did have a complaint. People felt there was always someone in the office they could talk to and they also had contact numbers out of office hours, in case of an emergency.

The provider regularly assessed and monitored the quality of the service provided. Feedback from people and their relatives was encouraged and was used to make improvements to the service.