Avon Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own home. At the time of our visit the agency supported 13 people who have physical or learning disabilities. Nine people received support with personal care. Some people who used the service required support 24 hours a day while other people received support at pre- arranged times.

We visited the offices of Avon Support Ltd on 5 and 6 January 2017. We told the provider 48 hours before the visit we were coming so they could arrange for staff to be available to talk with us about the service.

The service has 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. The registered manager was also an owner of the company.

People felt safe with their support workers and knew what they would do if they felt unsafe. Support workers were trained in safeguarding adults and understood how to protect people from abuse. There were procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely.

There were enough support workers to provide the support people required. Checks were carried out prior to support workers starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service. All staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively.

People told us support workers were caring and had the right skills to provide the care and support they required. The managers and support workers understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and supported people in line with these principles. People had consistent support workers who they were able to build trust and relationships with.

Support plans and risk assessments contained relevant information to help support workers provide the personalised care people required. People were involved in their care and were asked for their views and opinions about the service they received. People and support workers said they could raise any concerns with managers knowing they would be listened to and acted on.

There was an experienced registered manager and management team who provided good leadership and were committed to providing a quality service to people. People and support workers found the management team open, approachable, and responsive.

There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people, relatives and staff, and a programme of other checks and audits.

When we visited Avon Support Limited, we spoke with the director, the team leader and three support workers. We spoke with two people who used the service during our visit. We read the care records for four people who used the service. We gathered evidence of people's experiences by telephoning the representatives of three people who used the service following our visit. (People's representatives included family members and friends.)

People we spoke with were positive about the care they received. One person told us, “I can do more with their help.” A relative told us the staff were, “Easy going, very professional and well trained.” They said, “X is doing all the things they want to be doing and being supported in a fantastic way.”

Staff demonstrated they understood people’s personal needs and the individual ways they communicated their needs.

People told us that staff treated them with respect when they supported them.

We found that care staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and knew how to keep people safe. People who used the service and their relatives told us they felt safe.

We saw that the provider made appropriate checks on staff before they began work.

We found that there was an effective system for monitoring the quality of the service.