This inspection took place on 19 and 23 May 2017 and was announced.

Avante Home Care and Support Service provides care services to people in their own home in Kent. The care provided was tailored to people’s needs so that people could maintain their health and wellbeing or maintain their independence.

Care was delivered to older people some of whom were living with dementia and younger adults. There were 150 people using the service at the time of our inspection. The care and support people needed were mainly short calls of not less than 30 minutes, with some people needing support packages requiring two staff. The care had been managed from an office in Maidstone, which had been moved to Faversham shortly after our last inspection.

At the last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in October 2015, at the Maidstone office the service was rated as Good in all of the domains and had an overall Good rating.

At this inspection we found the registered manager had consistently monitored the quality of their service to maintain a rating of Good.

There was a registered manager employed at the 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 continued to experience care that was caring and compassionate. Staff were trusted and well thought of by the people using the service.

People continued to have their needs assessed and their care was planned to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing.

Risks were assessed and recorded by staff to protect people. There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents.

Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse and showed a good understanding of what their responsibilities were in preventing abuse.

The provider continued to update their policies in line with published guidance and practice in social care.

Procedures for reporting any concerns were in place. The registered manager knew how and when they should escalate concerns following the local authorities safeguarding protocols.

Staff training covered both core training like first aid and more specialised training like catheter care. They also understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how to support people’s best interest if they lacked capacity.

Staff continued to have good levels of support and supervision to enable them to carry out their roles.

Staff continued to be recruited safely and had been through a selection process that ensured they were fit to work with people who needed safeguarding.

Staff had been trained to administer medicines safely and staff spoke confidently about their skills and abilities to do this well.

People were pleased that staff encouraged them to keep healthy through eating a balanced diet and drinking enough fluids. Care plans were kept reviewed and updated.

There were policies in place that ensured people would be listened to and treated fairly if they complained.

The management team and staff were committed to the values of the organisation and ensured they took these into account when delivering care and support.

People were happy with the leadership and approachability of the service’s registered manager.