Fairhaven Healthcare Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people living with dementia, mental health impairments, physical disabilities, sensory impairment and younger adults. The domiciliary care agency office is situated within the centre of Fareham.

Not everyone using Fairhaven Healthcare Limited received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care' help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

This inspection was undertaken on 13 and 17 April 2018. At the time of the inspection approximately 70 people were receiving a regulated activity from Fairhaven Healthcare Limited.

A registered manager was in post. 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 not always support to take their medicines safely and relevant national guidelines were not always followed in relation to the safe administration and management of medicines.

Where accidents, incidents, and near misses had occurred there was a process in place which recorded the incident. However, this process was not robust. This meant that any themes or trends would not always be identified which could result in effective and appropriate action not being taking in a timely way that would mitigate future risks.

There was a lack of effective systems and processes in place to monitor the quality and safety of the care provided; which would allow timely investigations and highlight potential learning and continual improvement.

We received positive feedback from people about the service. They expressed satisfaction and spoke highly of the staff and management team. All the people and family members who were asked if they would recommend the service to others said they would.

People and their families told us they felt safe. Staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and knew how to prevent, identify and report abuse. Risks relating to the health and support needs of the people and the environment in which they lived were assessed and managed effectively.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped make sure only suitable staff were employed to care for people in their own homes. There were sufficient numbers of care staff to maintain the schedule of visits. People were satisfied with the consistency of the staff; however some people reported that call times were not consistent.

Staff completed an induction programme and were appropriately supported in their work by the management team. People and their families described the staff as being well trained and they were confident in the staff's abilities.

Staff and the management team knew how legislation designed to protect people's rights affected their work. They always asked for consent from people before providing care.

Where people required support with eating, drinking or meal preparation this was provided appropriately. Care plans were detailed, informative and supported staff to provide effective care and support to people. Staff understood people's healthcare needs and people were supported to access healthcare professionals when needed.

People who used the service felt they were treated with kindness and said their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff knew the people they provided care to well and understood their physical and social needs.

At the time of the inspection no one using the service was receiving end of life care. However the care manager assured us that people would be s