RV Care Limited - Surrey is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in a retirement village. Not everyone using RV Care Limited - Surrey receives the regulated activity; personal care. 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 the inspection the provider was providing personal care to nine people.

This inspection took place on 23 August 2018. We gave the provider 2 days’ notice of the inspection as we needed to make sure the manager would be available. This was our first inspection of the service since it was registered under the current provider.

The service had 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.

The service had safeguarding and whistle blowing procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures. There were system’s in place for monitoring, investigating and learning from incidents and accidents. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work. There was enough staff available to meet people’s needs. Risks to people were assessed to ensure their needs were safely met. Peoples medicines were managed appropriately and people were receiving their medicines as prescribed by health care professionals. Staff were aware of the steps they needed to take to reduce the risk of the spread of infections.

People’s care and support needs were assessed before they started using the service. Staff had received training relevant to people’s needs. 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 support this practice. Where required people were supported to maintain a balanced diet. People had access to a GP and other health care professionals when they needed them.

People and their relatives, where appropriate, had been consulted about their care and support needs. They were provided with appropriate information about the service. This ensured they were aware of the standard of care they should expect. People could understand information in the current written format provided to them however information was available in different formats when it was required. Staff treated people in a caring, respectful and dignified manner. People knew about the provider’s complaints procedure and said they would tell staff or the registered manager if they were unhappy or wanted to make a complaint. Staff had received training on equality and diversity. Staff said they would support people according to their needs. People received appropriate end of life care and support when required.

The provider took people’s views about the service into account through coffee morning meetings and satisfaction surveys. They had effective systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. They carried out spot checks to make sure people were being supported in line with their care plans. Notifications were submitted to the CQC as required. The registered manager and staff worked closely health care professionals and with the retirement village management team to make sure people received good quality care. Staff said they enjoyed working at the service and they received good support from the registered manager. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support and advice was always available for staff when they needed it.