About the service:

Guardian Homecare (Blackburn) is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of the inspection there were 360 people in receipt of care and support in their own homes, 22 of which were supported in extra care housing.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe. Staff knew their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and how to report any concerns and policies and procedures supported them in their roles. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing had been assessed and regular reviews were undertaken to keep people safe. Robust recruitment systems and processes were followed when recruiting new staff members.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way; the systems, policies and procedures supported this practice. Where appropriate, people’s consent was recorded.

All the people we spoke with felt staff had the appropriate knowledge and skills to support them. We saw staff had access to mandatory and optional training courses. Staff were also supported through regular supervisions and appraisals. People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring. Staff had access to equality and diversity policies and procedures.

Care records confirmed people’s choices, preferences and likes and dislikes had been considered and they had been involved in the development of care plans. Care plans were subjected to reviews and were updated if people’s needs changed. Complaints were managed in line with policies and procedures. We received mixed responses in relation to people knowing who would be attending to support them. Some people had regular staff, whilst others did not know who would be attending. Technology was used effectively. We have made a recommendation about end of life care.

The service was run by a registered manager who had effective oversight of the service. Staff told us they felt supported in their roles. Regular meetings and surveys were used as a means of gaining feedback on the service. Quality monitoring visits, audits and senior management visits all contributed to the effective running of the service.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first rated inspection since the service registered on 23 May 2018.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up:

We will plan a follow up inspection as per our inspection programme. We will continue to monitor the service and if we receive any concerning information we may bring the inspection forward.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk