We inspected this service on 20 December 2016. The inspection was announced.

Absolute Home Care Kent Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service focuses on independence, dignity, enhancing quality of life and supporting adults with end of life care. Palliative care otherwise known as end of life care is comfort care for people with serious illness which focuses on providing relief from the symptoms or pain of the illness. The office is situated in the centre of East Malling and the agency covered the West Kent area. At the time of our inspection they were supporting 57 people.

There were two registered managers in post who were also the providers at the time of our inspection. 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 received a service that was safe. Staff and the registered managers had received training about protecting people from abuse, and they knew what action to take if they suspected abuse. The safety of staff who were working out in the community had been assessed with systems put into place to reduce the risk to staff. Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and recorded with measures put into place to manage any hazards identified.

People received support and assistance from enough staff to fulfil their expected care packages and meet their assessed needs. Staff had received the training they required to meet people’s needs including any specialist needs. Staff had a clear understanding of their roles and people’s needs. Staff were supported in their role from the registered managers. Recruitment practices were safe and checks were carried out to make sure staff were suitable to work with people who needed care and support. However recruitment files did not always contain full employment histories for their employees. We have made a recommendation about this.

Where staff were involved in assisting people to manage their medicines, they did so safely. Policies and procedures were in place for the safe administration of medicines and staff had been trained to administer medicines safely.

People’s needs had been assessed to identify the care and support they required. Care and support was planned with people and reviewed to make sure people continued to have the support they needed. Detailed guidance was provided to staff within people’s homes about how to provide all areas of the care and support people needed. People using the service were treated with kindness and compassion by staff who understood the importance of protecting people’s privacy.

People were supported to remain as healthy as possible. Guidance was available within people's support plans to inform the staff of any specific health condition support. People were encouraged to maintain as much independence as possible.

Systems were in place for monitoring the quality and safety of the service and assessing people’s experiences. These included spot checks, annual questionnaires and observation visits from a member of the management team. People where given the opportunity to raise any concerns or complaints they had as well as an opportunity to make any changes.

The registered managers offered visible leadership to the staff team and, met with people regularly to ensure that they were receiving a quality service.