We carried out this announced inspection on the 23 and 25 April 2018.The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Hants Healthcare provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the agency was providing a service for 19 older people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss due to the progression of age.

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.

We received positive feedback from people about the service. All people and their relatives who used the service expressed great satisfaction and spoke highly of the care staff.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and secure when receiving care. Environmental and individual risks were identified and measures put in place to minimise these risks.

People were supported to take their medicines safely from suitably trained staff. Medication administration records (MAR) confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed. Not all staff had been assessed to ensure they remained competent to administer people’s medicines safely. However, the manger was in the process of completing these.

Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse. Staff contacted healthcare professionals promptly when they had concerns about people’s health and wellbeing.

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 enough staff to keep people safe.

There were plans in place to ensure continuity of care during foreseeable emergencies.

People felt they were treated with kindness and compassion and said their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and understood that people had the right to make their own choices.

Staff received regular support and one to one sessions or supervision to discuss areas of development. They completed a wide range of training and felt it supported them in their job role. New staff completed an induction before being permitted to work unsupervised.

Care plans provided comprehensive information about how people wished to receive care and support. This helped ensure people received personalised care in a way that met their individual needs.

People felt listened to, a complaints procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.

Staff felt supported by the management and felt they could visit the office and would be listened to. Regular audits of the service were carried out to assess and monitor the quality of the service.