This inspection took place on the 1 September 2016 and was announced.

Agincare UK Worthing is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to people in their own homes. The registered office is in Worthing however the service provides personal care across West Sussex including Littlehampton, Southwick, Shoreham and Worthing. At the time of our visit the service was supporting 75 older people with personal care. People had various needs, including dementia, sensory impairments and/or a physical disability.

There was a registered manager in post who was present throughout the inspection. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2013. 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 Agincare UK Worthng provided a safe service. Staff were able to speak about what action they would take if they had a concern or felt a person was at risk of abuse. Risks to people had been identified and assessed and information was provided to staff on how to care for people safely and mitigate any risks. The service followed safe recruitment practices and medicines were managed safely.

Staff felt confident with the support and guidance they had been given during their induction and subsequent training. Supervisions, appraisals and competency assessments were consistently carried out for all staff supporting people.

People’s consent to care and treatment was considered. Staff understood the requirements under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and about people’s capacity to make decisions. Some people received support with food and drink and they made positive comments about staff and the way they met this need.

Staff spoke kindly and respectfully to people as well as involving them with the care provided. Staff had developed meaningful relationships with people they supported. Staff knew people well and had a caring approach. People were treated with dignity and respect.

Changes in people’s health care needs and their support was reviewed when required. If people required input from other healthcare professionals, this was arranged.

People received personalised care. People’s care had been planned and individual care plans were in place. They contained information about people’s lives, including their personal histories. They provided clear guidance to staff on how to meet people’s individual needs. People and their relatives were involved in reviewing care plans with the management team.

A range of quality audit processes were in place to measure the overall quality of the service provided to people. Both people and relatives views about the quality of the service were obtained informally through discussions with the registered manager, annual care reviews and through questionnaires.

People told us that they knew who to go to make a complaint and how they would do so if and when they required.

During the inspection we found the registered manager adopted a ‘hands-on ‘approach and was open to feedback. The registered manager and staff were enthusiastic about providing a high standard of care to people.

At the time of this inspection the agency was providing personal care to 87 people and the manager had been in post for three months. We telephoned the agency 48 hours before visiting to inform them of the inspection and to ask them to arrange for us to see two people who used the service in their homes.

People we spoke with said they were involved in making decisions and choices about their care, were listened to and treated with respect. One person told us "Although I need a lot of care I feel normal because all the staff are very kind and friendly and treat me with respect".

We spoke with people about the support they received and everyone said they were happy with the service. Comments included "they are brilliant" and "I am very happy with the service. I like their friendly approach and feel safe". We looked at the care plans and found them to be detailed and centred on the person's wishes and needs.

We saw that the medication system was robust and found that people were supported to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed.

The recruitment and selection process in place ensured that all staff had appropriate pre-employment checks before starting work and undertook the relevant training.

The service had a range of quality assurance systems in place to assess and monitor the service provided and also carried out regular surveys with people who used the service, staff and other stakeholders to gather their views and then take action when required.

As part of this inspection we spoke to two people on the telephone receiving a service, and a relative.

People said they were treated with respect and cared for well. Their comments included “the carers are very good, do things in a way that’s comfortable – they do care for you well. Very courteous, give choices, ask how you want it done”.

Another person said “I have found them most kind, most caring. The girls are so lovely they make my day, and they do things the way I like them done”.

People told us that they felt confident about raising any concerns they had with their care worker, and knew how to contact the agency if they had such concerns.

One person told us “the office are very good, they check if you’re happy with everything”.

People told us that they were happy with the support they received from the staff supplied by the agency.

People spoke positively about staff and said that they were treated with respect and their dignity was maintained.

Staff members told us that they felt well trained and supported in their role.