About the service:

Competent Homecare is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the Basingstoke and surrounding area. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 34 people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission website at www.cqc.org.uk.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People received high quality care that was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

• People and their relatives provided positive feedback about all aspects of the care they received.

• One person told us, “I couldn’t have better care, they always find time for a chat and will go out of their way to help me.”

• People experienced safe care, which protected them from avoidable harm and abuse. Staff had received relevant training and understood their role and responsibility in relation to safeguarding and keeping people safe.

• Staff ensured the human rights of people who lacked a voice, were upheld and respected.

• There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. The nominated individual and registered manager covered any unforeseen staff absence.

• Staff felt they were valued and respected by the management team, who actively sought their involvement to improve and develop the service.

• Staff completed an effective induction programme, then were enabled by the provider to develop and maintain the required skills to meet people’s needs effectively.

• The provider completed regular competency checks to ensure staff delivered care in accordance with their training.

• We saw people were treated with kindness and compassion by staff who supported them to express their views and be actively involved in making decisions about their care.

• People received care from a regular staff team, with whom they had built trusting relationships.

• Staff supported people to be actively involved in making decisions about their care.

• People were impressed by the provider’s willingness to listen and respond to their concerns, which had instilled trust and confidence in the service.

• The nominated individual and registered manager led by example, set high standards and inspired staff to meet them.

• People’s care plans were comprehensive, providing staff with the required information about their needs and how to meet them.

• Staff worked effectively with local organisations to improve care practice and outcomes.

Rating at last inspection:

• This was the first inspection of Competent Homecare since they were first registered to provide personal care in February 2018.

Why we inspected:

• This was a planned comprehensive inspection, in line with our inspection programme.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care, until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.