The inspection took place on 24 November 2016 and was announced.

Everyday Recruitment Agency (ERA) is domiciliary care service that provides support to people Worthing and surrounding areas. At the time of our visit the service was supporting 52 people with personal care and one person with nursing care.

The service had 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.

People were very satisfied with the service and the support they received. In one card of thanks written to the service we read, ‘Thank you so much for being part of my life. You have been great, just been like a family to me’. Another relative had written to the provider saying, ‘Thanks to all the girls… without them (name of person) could not have remained in her own home. We always found them to be friendly, caring and effective’.

People received a safe service. Staff understood local safeguarding procedures. Risks to people’s safety were assessed and reviewed. People received their medicines safely and at the right time.

People had confidence in the staff who supported them. There were enough staff to provide care and to offer flexibility in the service. Staff received training to enable them to deliver effective care. They were supported in their roles by a system of supervision and appraisal.

Staff understood how consent should be considered in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff supported people to prepare meals and to eat and drink if required. Where people could benefit from additional support, referrals were made to other healthcare professionals.

People were involved in planning their care and determining how they wished to receive support. They spoke highly of the care they received and of how staff would assist them with additional tasks if necessary. People’s care was reviewed and updated in line with their needs and wishes.

People felt able to contact the registered manager or staff if they had concerns and said that they received a quick response.

The registered manager and provider monitored the delivery of care and had a system to monitor and review the quality of the service. Suggestions on improvements to the service were welcomed and feedback encouraged.

The inspection began at 11.00 and finished at 15.30. At the time of our inspection managers advised us that the agency provided personal care support for between 55 and 60 people, and nursing care support for two people. We spoke on the telephone with three people who used the service and a relative of someone who used the service. We spoke with two managers for the service and two members of staff, and spoke on the telephone with a further three members of staff. One person who used the service told us “Staff are very nice and very helpful”. Another said “Care is very good.” A member of staff told us “I really like them as an agency. I recommend them to other nurses.”

People who used the service told us that the care provided met their needs. One said “Staff follow the care plan and they know what they’re doing.” Another told us “Staff do things the way you like them done.” We saw that care plans were regularly updated and provided detailed guidance to staff on how the person’s needs should be met. A member of staff told us “The care plans tell me what I need to know and get updated regularly.”

People’s privacy and dignity was respected in how their care was provided. The relative of someone who used the service told us “The staff tell my relative everything they’re going to do, and do it sensitively, very kindly.” People told us that staff supported them to remain as independent as possible.

People told us that they were assisted safely with their medication, and we found that the service had arrangements in place for the recording and management of medicines for people living in their own homes.

The agency had ensured that staff were safe to work with people by carrying out checks and obtaining references before staff were allowed to begin work for them.

People were asked for their views about the service, and this was one way in which the provider monitored how things were done. Questionnaire responses received from people showed that they were happy with the service provided. People told us that their comments about the service were listened to and acted on.