Our inspection took place on 3 March 2017 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours notice as they provide a domiciliary care service, and we needed to be sure someone was in. We returned by appointment on 10 March 2017 to give feedback to the provider. This was our first inspection of the service.

Epoch Home Care provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 53 people using the service. There was a registered manager in post when we inspected. 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.

People and staff told us calls were sometimes cut short, as there was not always travel time built into the scheduling. The registered manager was aware of this and had invested in new software to improve their planning of calls.

Recruitment practices were safe, and we saw the provider made checks to ensure staff they employed were not barred from working with vulnerable people. Staff had training in and understood the principles of safeguarding people from abuse, and people told us they felt safe using the service. People’s safety was further protected because care plans contained appropriate risk assessments and basic guidance for staff to show how risk should be minimised.

Medicines management practices were safe, and we saw the registered manager had made changes to documentation to ensure medicines administration was recorded consistently.

Formal supervision and appraisal for staff had not always been at a consistent frequency, although staff felt they had adequate opportunity to talk with the registered manager about any issue. The registered manager had recognised supervision and appraisal as an area of improvement, and had begun to take action. Staff received the training they needed in order to be effective in their role, although the registered manager acknowledged their record keeping could improve. The registered manager had a plan in place to deliver update and refresher training.

The provider ensured there was a robust approach to assessing and documenting people’s capacity to make decisions, and staff understood the importance of offering people choice and promoting their independence.

People told us they were happy with the support they received with meals, and staff were able to tell us how they could work to promote healthier diets.

We received good feedback about the staff. People told us they had very good relationships with them, and felt they were well trained. We saw people were involved in the planning and review of their care, and saw their preferences, likes and dislikes were recorded and respected. Care plans were updated when required; staff told us they had time to read people’s files, and were told when these had been updated.

People understood how they could raise complaints or concerns, and they told us they had confidence the provider would respond appropriately.

We received good feedback about the registered manager’s leadership and presence in the service. They had put systems in place to measure the quality of the service and we saw evidence they had identified opportunities which would help the service continue to improve.