This inspection took place on 8 and 14 August 2017 and was announced. 24 hours before the inspection we contacted the service to let them know that we will be coming to inspect them. We wanted to make sure that the registered manager would be available on the day of inspection.

Carte Blanche Care Limited is registered to provide personal care services to people within the local community. At the time of inspection one person was receiving 24 hour support from this service.

This service has not previously been inspected.

At the time of the inspection 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.

People and their relatives felt the services provided were safe. Staff were aware of and understood the potential signs of abuse and how to report any concerns. The service carried out risk assessments and management plans were in place to minimise the risks identified. The registered manager had carried out environmental risk assessments, including fire risk assessments, making sure that staff supported people as necessary in the event of a fire. The service carried out checks to ensure that staff were recruited safely and suitable to work with people.

A policy on incidents and accidents was available for staff to follow when their needed it. People received support to have their medicines as prescribed. However, we found that PRN protocols were not in place. A PRN protocol explains how people should receive their medicines that were to be taken when needed, such as pain killers. We raised our concerns with the registered manager and noted on the second day of the inspection PRN protocols were in place.

The registered manager supported staff well, which enabled them to provide effective care for people. They carried out regular supervisions to ensure that staff had the support they required to meet people’s needs. The registered manager was in the process of planning appraisal meetings for staff who had worked at the service over a year.

Staff followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) principals and supported people to make decisions for themselves as much as possible. People’s nutritional needs were assessed and staff supported people to eat and drink as necessary. The service helped people to attend to their health needs as and when required. Staff attended relevant training courses to ensure they had the required knowledge for their role. However, staff were not trained to support people with learning disabilities. After discussing this with the registered manager, the learning disabilities training course was booked for staff within a week.

People told us that staff were good to them. Staff knew people’s preferences and care needs well. Care records had information on people’s history and important events to them. The registered manager had regularly met with people making sure they were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff supported people to undertake tasks independently. The services provided to people were caring and respectful. Staff supported people to maintain their dignity when assisting them with personal care. People had a choice of who and when to visit them in their own home.

The service had a good understanding of people’s care needs and arranged support to match these needs. Staff supported people to make choices about the activities they wanted to attend. People had support to choose their daily meals and carry out food shopping as necessary. At the time of inspection, people and their relatives did not have any complaints about the support provided. People were aware of who to talk to if they wanted to raise any concerns about the services.

People were able to talk to the reg