Winnington Hall is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people within their own homes. This agency is also known as Caremark Vale Royal. It is owned by J.O.T. Limited. The office is situated in Winnington near Northwich and is centrally located for the service.

On the days of this inspection there were 52 people using the service, supported by 34 staff.

This was the first inspection of this service which was registered with the Care Quality Commission on 9 June 2016.

There was a registered manager in place at this 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they were very happy with the service provided and that the staff were caring, kind and brilliant. People said “The staff are very good”, “The staff know [Name] very well”, “The staff do a very good job” and “I am very happy with the service provided.”

Staff had received a range of training that included moving and handling, safeguarding, medication and fire awareness, however, this needed to be brought up to date. Staff supervision sessions, annual appraisals and staff meetings had occurred on an ad-hoc basis. A recommendation was made regarding this.

Quality assurance processes were not robust. Audits of care folder documentation were not up to date and telephone monitoring calls to people who used the service had not been completed. A recommendation was made.

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and providing support to people who used the service. They said they were supported by the office and management team.

Care plans were well documented and up to date. They gave clear guidance to the staff team. Risk assessments were undertaken for a variety of tasks which included moving and handling, falls and the environment. These were reviewed regularly and up to date. The management of medication was safe.

Staffing rotas showed that sufficient staff were employed to cover the hours required to meet people’s needs.

Staff were aware of how to report a safeguarding concern. They were aware of the policies and procedures available to safeguard people from harm and told us they would not hesitate to report any concerns.

Staff recruitment files showed that good recruitment processes were in place. Staff attended an induction process prior to working alone. Staff told us that they worked alongside an experienced staff member before going it alone. They confirmed the induction process was good and that they had the information they needed to perform their role.

People had access to information about the service. They said that they knew the information was in their care folder and some people had read this. An initial visit was undertaken by one of the staff team prior to the service starting.

A complaints policy was available and each person had this information within the care folder. Processes were in place to deal with any complaints received.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.