This inspection took place on 10 May 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to ensure there would be someone available at the office. This was the first inspection of this service since they registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 12 April 2016.

Yourlife (Wallington) provides personal care and support to older people living in a purpose built ‘extra care scheme’ called Elles House where they owned their own self-contained flats. Elles House has facilities including a restaurant, a laundry, communal lounges and a room available for homeowners to hire for functions. There were seven people using the service at the time of our inspection who all had low support needs.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 registered manager and staff knew how to respond to keep people safe if they suspected they were being abused. Staff received training in safeguarding adults at risk and the registered manager talked about safeguarding topics with staff regularly to keep their knowledge up to date.

Staff managed people’s medicines safely through robust processes. Only staff who had received training in medicines administration and had been assessed as competent were permitted to manage people’s medicines. Staff completed records relating to medicines management appropriately.

Risks to people were mitigated because the registered manager ensured they were assessed with suitable risk management plans in place for staff to follow.

Staff were recruited through robust procedures to check their suitability to work with people. There were enough staff deployed to work with people and meet their needs.

Staff were supported through a programme of induction, training and supervision. The registered manager and staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and people were supported in line with it.

Staff were kind and caring and respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were involved in making decisions about the care they received.

Although some information in the complaints policy required updating, the organisation’s process for responding to complaints internally was appropriate and people were aware of how to complain.

Staff knew how people wanted to receive their care, their backgrounds and the people who were important to them and this information was recorded in people’s care plans for staff to refer to. Staff used the information in people’s care plans to provide care to them in the ways which met their needs.

The registered manager reviewed people’s risk assessments and care plans regularly to ensure information in them remained current and reliable for staff to follow.

The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The provider had a range of systems to monitor and assess the quality of the service including gathering and acting on the views of people who used the service and care workers. The registered manager encouraged open communication with people and staff.