Kingfisher Domicillary Care agency is registered to provide personal care to people living at home. The agency covers the city of Peterborough and neighbouring suburbs. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people using the agency.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 8 November 2016 and was announced. It was carried out by one inspector.

The provider is required, as part of their registration, to have a registered manager. A registered manager was in post at the time of our visit. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage a registered service. 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 kept safe and staff were knowledgeable about reporting any incident of harm. People were looked after by enough staff to support them with their individual needs. Pre-employment checks were completed on staff before they were assessed to be suitable to look after people who used the agency. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts of food and drink. They were also supported to access health care services if they needed this type of support

The CQC is required by law to monitor the Mental Capacity Act 2005 [MCA 2005] and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards [DoLS] and to report on what we find. When people were assessed to lack mental capacity to make decisions about their care, this was carried out in their best interest. Staff members had an understanding of the application of the MCA. The provider was aware of the actions to take if a person required a DoLS application to be made, which were detailed in clear policy guidance.

People were looked after by staff who were trained and supported to do their job.

People were looked after by kind staff. People and their relatives were involved in the review of their or family members’ individual care plans.

Care was provided based on people’s individual needs. Continued improvement actions were in place to ensure that, when possible, people were looked after by regular staff. Staff stayed the duration of people’s planned care visits. There was a process in place so that people’s concerns and complaints were listened to and these were acted upon.

The registered manager had attended a number of training and development courses to enhance their managerial skills. There was a team of senior staff who supported care staff to look after people. Staff were supported and managed to look after people in a safe way. Staff, people and their relatives were able to make suggestions and actions were taken, if these were needed.