This inspection took place on 17 October 2017 and was unannounced. The service was inspected by one adult social care inspector.

Avalon Skipton Services provides supported living, or community based support in people's own homes. The service supports people who live in the Skipton area and surrounding villages. The service supports people from a few hours a week, to 24 hour support and management of the support is delivered through an office in Skipton.

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.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had undergone recruitment checks to ensure they were safe to work. Staff understood how to report any concerns about abuse and manage risks to keep people safe. People were supported with their medication by staff who had received training in how to do this.

Staff had access to training and supervision to support them in their role. Staff understood the importance of seeking consent in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and knew how to support people to make their own decisions. Staff ensured people's health needs were monitored by healthcare professionals where appropriate.

People and relatives described staff as caring and kind. They also told us staff treated people with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to be involved in the planning and review of their care. People were supported by staff who knew them well. People and relatives knew how to raise any concerns they had about the service.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and they told us the service was managed well and in people's best interests. People and relatives made positive comments about the service people received.

We undertook this announced inspection on the 4 August 2015. At the previous inspection, which took place on 3 December 2013 the service met all of the regulations that we assessed.

Avalon Skipton Services provides supported living, or community based support in people's own homes. The service supports people who live in the Skipton area and surrounding villages. The service supports people from a few hours a week, to 24 hour support and management of the support is delivered through an office in Skipton. At the time of this inspection, 38 people were receiving support with personal care by the agency. The agency employs thirty one support staff and also a registered manager.

There was a registered manager at this service. 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 they felt safe. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to protect people from harm. There were risk assessments in place in people’s support plans to identify risks due to people’s health or mobility and to make sure these were minimised without intruding on people’s privacy and independence.

Some of the people who used the service were supported with taking their prescribed medication and staff told us they were trained and competent to assist people with this.

Recruitment checks were in place. These checks were carried out to make sure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. The training programme provided staff with the knowledge and skills to support people. Staff told us they liked working at the service and that there was a good ‘staff team.’ Staff were supported through training, regular supervision and staff meetings.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 which is in place for people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. The legislation is designed to ensure that any decisions are made in people’s best interests. People gave consent to their plan of care and were involved in making decisions about their support. People’s plan of care was subject to constant review to meet their changing needs.

Staff we spoke with told us how much they enjoyed working for the service and that they were committed to providing a bespoke and quality service for people. Systems and processes were in place to monitor the service and make improvements where they could. This included internal audits and regular contact with people using the service, to check they were satisfied with their care packages.

The service had received complaints and we saw that they had dealt with them appropriately. People we spoke with who received a service told us that they knew who they needed to contact when making a complaint.