The inspection was announced, the provider was given 24 hours’ notice. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 30 people with personal care.

This was the first inspection of this service since it’s registration with the Care Quality Commission in November 2015

Willow Court is a domiciliary care service. The service is based within a housing complex provided by housing company and supports older people and people with physical disabilities to live in their own homes within the complex.

The service had a registered manager. 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 told us they felt safe and could speak to any of the staff if they were worried about anything. The registered manager understood their responsibilities for safeguarding people and staff were trained to understand and recognise abuse. They knew who to report concerns about people’s safety and welfare within the organisation and knew where to access contact numbers to external agencies if necessary.

Sufficient numbers of staff were deployed to provide people with the care and support they needed. The required checks were done before new staff started work and this helped to keep people safe. Staff were provided with training and support to help them carry out their roles.

Medicines were managed safely and all staff were trained to administer medicines. Checks on staff competencies were made three monthly

Risks to people’s safety and welfare were identified and managed. Risk assessments clearly identified the risks to people and what could be done to mitigate the risks and keep them safe whilst promoting independence.

People were supported to prepare meals and with their nutrition as needed. We saw people’s nutritional needs and preferences were taken into account.

We found the service was working in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and this helped to make sure people’s rights were protected. When there was any doubt about a person’s capacity to understand a particular decision the correct process was followed to make sure any actions taken were in their best interests.

Care plans included detail of people’s health needs and what support they needed to maintain good health. The service worked with other health and social care professionals to help achieve positive outcomes for people.

People told us staff respected their privacy and dignity and provided them with the support they needed. People told us they were very happy with the standards of care they received.

People were involved in decisions about all aspects of their care and support and were involved in the development of their care plans.

The care documentation supported a person centred approach and provided support staff with detailed information to make sure people were supported in the way they preferred.

There was a complaints procedure. The people we spoke with said they would speak with one of the staff or the registered manager if they had any concerns.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.