Grangefield Homecare provides personal care for people living in their own homes in the village of Earls Barton and the surrounding villages in Northamptonshire. There were 19 people receiving personal care at the time of the inspection.

At the last inspection in July 2015, the service was rated Good; at this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was a registered manager who registered with CQC in February 2016. Registered managers 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 service continued to provide safe care to people living in their own homes. Staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding people from harm and followed the provider’s policies to provide people’s prescribed medicines safely. There were enough suitably skilled staff to meet people’s needs. Staff had been recruited using safe recruitment practices.

People received care from staff that had received training to meet people’s specific needs and adequate supervision to carry out their roles.

People received care from a regular staff group who knew them well which helped to develop positive relationships.

People received a balanced diet from staff that understood their dietary needs. People were helped to maintain their independence and dignity by the consideration and support from staff.

People were treated with respect and helped to maintain their dignity.

People were supported to access healthcare professionals and staff were prompt in referring people to health services when required.

People’s risks were assessed and staff had person-centred care plans they followed to mitigate these risks. Care plans were updated regularly and people and their relatives were involved in their care planning where possible.

Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and people’s mental capacity was assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The provider and registered manager continually assessed, monitored and evaluated the quality of the service to identify areas for improvement, and implement change where required.

This unannounced inspection took place on the 23 and 24 July 2015. Grangefield Homecare provides personal care for people in their own homes with a range of personal care needs. People who received personal care lived in or around the village of Earls Barton in Northamptonshire. There were 11 people receiving personal care during this inspection.

There was a registered manager who was no longer in post; however, there was a manager who had been in post for over a year who was in the process of registering. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

People were assured that staff had been appropriately recruited as their employment procedures protected people by employing staff that were suited to the job. There were sufficient numbers of staff that had the skills they needed to provide people with safe care and support.

People were safeguarded from physical harm or psychological distress arising from poor practice or ill treatment as staff understood their responsibilities to respond to allegations of abuse and protect people from harm.

People’s care plans were individualised and reflected the support they needed and that had been agreed with them. They benefited from receiving care from staff that listened to them and acted upon what they said. Staff encouraged and enabled people to retain as much independence as their capabilities allowed. Appropriate risk assessments related to people’s support needs were in place and were acted upon by staff.

People who required help with their medicines were supported to order, store and take their medicines safely.

People’s quality of care was effectively monitored by the audits regularly conducted by the registered manager and the provider. People knew how and who to complain to. They were assured that they would be listened to and that appropriate remedial action would be taken to try to resolve matters to their satisfaction.