The inspection took place on the 17, 19 and 23 April and was announced. This was to ensure people, staff and relatives we needed to speak to would be available.

Dimensions Hampshire Domiciliary Care Office provides personal care and support for people living in their own homes across the county of Hampshire. This included supported living housing arrangements, with shared tenancies and sometimes 24 hour care support. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 124 people with personal care

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The provider had shared concerns with the CQC regarding allegations of abuse of people by staff. These had been reported to the local authority by the provider and investigated by the provider and local authority. The staff responsible for the abuse had been immediately removed from the service. We visited people and inspected the service to ensure that these actions had been carried out. The provider had taken prompt action in response to safeguarding concerns and had implemented an action plan to ensure people’s safety and protect them from further abuse.

People were protected from harm or abuse from appropriately trained staff who used the providers’ robust reporting systems. Risks to people were assessed and managed safely by appropriately trained staff. People were supported to access their preferred activities, develop skills and have maximum control and choice in their lives so that their independence was promoted and their freedom respected. Sufficient numbers of staff were deployed to meet people’s needs and there were safe practices in place to ensure that people received medicines safely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were supported according to their needs, choices and preferences by appropriately trained staff. Most care plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed and updated. We found some examples of care plans which had not been reviewed on the specified dates. We raised this with the provider who then made arrangements to complete the reviews. Care plans accurately reflected people’s needs. Staff liaised effectively with healthcare professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing.

People received consistent support from caring staff who knew them well and treated them with respect. Staff encouraged and supported people to be involved in making decisions about their care.

People received personalised support which met their needs and preferences and developed their abilities. The provider had a complaints policy and people were supported to express their views. Arrangements were in place to provide care and support for people nearing the end of their lives. Assessments were recorded in people’s care plans.

The provider demonstrated an inclusive, person centred approach to delivering care which was understood and shared by staff. Effective systems were in place for monitoring the quality of care provided. Audits were used to identify improvements and drive service development. Feedback was regularly gathered from people and their relatives and used to drive service improvements.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The inspection took place on 18, 19 and 20 January 2016, and was announced. This was to ensure people and staff we needed to speak with were available.

Dimensions Hampshire Domiciliary Care Office provides personal care and support for people living in their own homes across the county of Hampshire. This included supported living housing arrangements, with shared tenancies and sometimes 24 hour care support. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 83 people with personal care, and another 67 people were supported with care that is not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Regulated activities means care that a provider must be registered by law to deliver and includes providing personal care.

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.

Within this report we sometimes refer to staff. This is used to describe all staff roles, including support workers and locality managers. The registered manager devolved responsibility for people’s day to day support management to 11 locality managers. Each of these managed several supported living houses and/ or commissioned care packages within a geographical area, known as a locality.

This was the first inspection for this service, as it was registered with CQC in April 2015. It was registered at this time because the provider had just been awarded substantial additional commissioned care packages, which meant an additional office location was required. People and their support staff had been transferred to the provider’s organisation from several other services at this time. The provider had planned for this additional work load. They were still resolving some of the issues that had resulted from the transfer of people and staff into the service at the time of our inspection.

Concerns had been shared with CQC regarding people’s safety, support arrangements and choice. Concerns had also been shared regarding staff availability and allegations of abuse of people by the staff supporting them. These had been investigated by the provider and local safeguarding authority, and appropriate actions put into place to address the concerns raised. We inspected the service to ensure these actions had been successfully embedded to protect people from harm.

People were protected from harmful risks. Staff were trained and encouraged to report potential areas of harm, including abuse. The provider had taken robust actions in response to allegations of abuse, and had reviewed safeguarding measures to promote people’s safety. The provider’s whistle blowing policy explained the process to raise concerns outside of the organisation if necessary. Staff told us they were aware of the provider’s safeguarding policy, and had seen it instigated to protect people from harm.

Risks specific to individual’s needs and wishes were identified, assessed and managed safely. People were supported to engage with activities and develop life skills. Staff were encouraged to support people to manage risks associated with their preferences rather than neglect people’s preferences because of the risks involved. Risks associated with people’s health conditions were managed safely, because support workers were trained and followed guidance to keep people safe from harm.

People’s needs and commissioned care directed the amount of support they received. Where people’s needs had changed, the registered manager liaised with care commissioners to change support worker hours accordingly. Sufficient staff were deployed to meet people’s identified needs.

The registered manager followed the provider’s recruitment policy to ensure people were supported by staff suitable for their role. A review of recruitment files, and planned updates