The inspection took place on 23 and 30 July 2018 and was announced.

The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community across Seaham. It provides a service to disabled adults. This included people with learning disabilities living in their own houses with 24 hour support and people who had support from staff at arranged times through the day.

At the time of the inspection 14 people were using the service. Seven of these people were living in a block of flats, there was a port-a-cabin in the grounds of the flats which staff used as a local office meaning they are on-site to provide support. The other people lived alone in various parts of the town. The service’s main office was also situated close by in Seaham.

This was the first inspection for this service.

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.

Recruitment processes were robust, which helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff.

There were systems in place to reduce the risk of abuse and staff were confident about reporting concerns.

Personal and environmental risks were assessed to ensure people could be supported in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Incidents and accidents were monitored, and action was taken to reduce risks.

People had been assessed to check if they were able to administer their own medicines. Plans had been put in place to ensure people were given the required support to take their medicines according to their individual needs.

Staff had undertaken a range of training that met people's needs. Staff were supported to develop their knowledge and skills. Learning from positive and negative support experiences was shared between staff to make improvements in their practice.

People were supported to lead healthier lives and maintain appropriate diets.

People told us they found staff caring and that care was delivered in a way that maintained their privacy and dignity.

People were supported to be as independent as possible.

People had care plans reflecting their likes, dislikes, needs and preference and we saw that people were involved in the assessment of their care. Staff worked with other healthcare professionals to ensure people received a seamless service that met all their needs.

The people we spoke with told us they knew how to raise any concerns and said they felt comfortable doing so. Procedures were in place to record and investigate any concerns or complaints.

We saw that people were encouraged to take part in meaningful activities and volunteering opportunities and that the service was highly flexible to support people being able to do their chosen activities.

The registered manager was aware of national guidance and good practice and work was ongoing to improve the service in-line with these.

People were consulted about their satisfaction with the service and told us they were happy or very happy with the services being provided.

We were told that people using the service and staff had good relationships with the management, who were accessible and approachable. Some people were unsure who the senior management were as there had been some recent changes to the company’s management structure.

The management team regularly checked the quality of the service with a view to continuous learning and improvement. The audit system had recently been reviewed and improved with a view to making it more robust. This process was not fully embedded in all the services yet.