We inspected Forest care on 28 September & 4 October 2016. This was an announced inspection. We gave the provider 36 hours’ notice to ensure the registered manager and other staff we needed to speak with would be available.

Forest Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own home. At the time of the inspection 25 people received support with their personal care. Staff carry out daily and weekly visits to people depending on their needs, and provide 24 live in care to people with more complex care needs when required. Most people fund their own care, although the agency also provides services to people funded by the Local Authority and Continuing Health Care when requested. The service also provides domestic support and acts as a recruitment agency for the rest of the provider’s care and nursing homes. However, we did not inspect these elements of the service, as they are not regulated activities and are not required to be registered with The Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The service had a registered manager in place. 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 provided outstanding leadership and was committed, innovative, knowledgeable and organised. They provided clear and confident guidance and demonstrated strong values in all aspects of their role. Staff consistently told us they felt extremely well supported and valued and they were very happy at work. The culture at the service was open, transparent and welcoming. The registered manager made time for staff who received awards and letters of recognition to say thank you.

People consistently told us knew who the registered manager and deputy manager were. They, in turn, knew people very well. They covered shifts and visited people at home to check they were happy and find out if they wanted any changes to their care. They were flexible in their approach to delivering people’s care packages, and adapted the rotas to meet people’s preferences and needs if required.

Forest Care had excellent links with the local community. This was promoted by the registered manager who, along with staff, represented the agency at community events and forums, raising money for local charities and raising awareness of equality, and conditions such as dementia and diabetes.

Effective quality assurance systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of care and drive improvements. People told us they completed questionnaires and were often contacted by telephone to check they remained satisfied with the service they received. Their views were listened to and acted upon.

Regular audits were carried out by the registered manager and quality manager to ensure the service met people’s expectations, and the standards required under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Any shortfalls were acted upon and communicated to staff.

The registered manager understood their responsibility to submit notifications of events to the commission as required by law. People’s care records and other records relating to the management of the service were well maintained, up to date and securely stored.

Staff interacted very positively with people and spoke about them with affection. They were extremely committed to the people they supported and were very caring, compassionate and kind. A health professional told us one person, who wanted to stay at home when they were nearing the end of their life, was able to do so because of the commitment and compassionate care they received from the staff at Forest Care.

People told us that staff really respected their privacy and dignity and treated their homes with the utmost respect. Staff promoted peo