About the service:

Heydays Care & Support Services is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. This includes personal care, respite care, overnight care and home care services. Not everyone using Heydays Care & Support Services receives 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. When we inspected the service was being used by 91 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt they received care in a safe and supportive way. We were told, “I feel safe and comfortable every time they come” and “All are friends, always kind and caring.” People and relatives told us the service was “very caring” and management were “friendly” and always available to listen to them. People spoke about staff and the service going the "extra mile."

People told us the service was well managed and the staff supporting them knew them well and respected their needs and preferences. Some said staff were more like friends than care workers. Care staff told us the management team set high standards for care and support.

Staff had received appropriate training, induction and development to carry out their work and support people safely. There were sufficient numbers of skilled staff working with people and they received supervision and support so they could support people effectively. There was a thorough recruitment process to help make new staff were suitable to work with the people in their homes. Only staff who had received training in safe medicine administration were able to give medicines and we saw this was being done safely.

Staff were supplied with personal protective equipment for use to prevent the spread of infections. Staff had received training in infection control. Staff told us they could restock this equipment whenever they needed.

The provider had safeguarding systems to protect people from the risk of abuse or unsafe care. Staff were aware of the procedures, had received training on it and knew what action to take. There were effective systems for assessing and managing risk to help make sure people and staff were kept safe from foreseeable risks.

The registered provider had procedures in place for assessing a person's mental capacity in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff assessed and regularly reviewed people’s physical, mental health and social needs and updated the care plans when changes happened. Care plans had been developed with the close involvement of the person and where appropriate their families and representatives. People told us staff were reliable and acted quickly if they needed any help or if they were feeling unwell.

People's social and emotional needs were considered as part of the overall service and social isolation was recognised as a major issue for some people. The registered provider had introduced social events for people to help reduce the risks from social isolation. Staff actively promoted people's independence and respected their privacy.

People and their relatives were aware of how to raise concerns or complaints. Complaints received by the service had been investigated and responded to in line with the provider's own procedures. People told us, “I would not hesitate to contact the office if I had a problem, the office staff are approachable and kind.” The service acted upon the comments people made with them to try to make sure lessons were learned.

The nominated individual and registered manager demonstrated strong leadership, oversight and daily involvement in the service. They understood their duty o

This inspection took place on over three days from 15 August to 17 August 2016. We gave the registered provider 48 hours’ notice as we wanted to make sure that the registered manager was available on the day of the inspection to support us with the process.

Heydays Care and Support Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that offers a range of services for people in their own homes. This includes personal care, respite care, overnight care and home care services. The service provides support with personal care and also domestic tasks to help maintain independence for people living in and around Barrow In Furness, Grange over Sands, Kendal and surrounding areas. At the time of the inspection the service was being used by 92 people with a range of needs from complex personal support to undertaking general domestic tasks.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection that was present throughout the inspection. 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 we spoke with told us that they were happy with the care and support that they received and felt safe in the hands of the care staff that supported them. People told us they felt safe whilst receiving support from staff at the service. They told us the standard of care was “very good” and also “everything we could ask for”. We found that people were supported by regular staff that they had got to know well.

People who used the service and their relatives told us that the care staff and management were “caring”, “supportive” and “friendly” and that people were involved in planning their own care. Records also indicated that people had been involved in planning their care and, where they were able, people told staff on a daily basis how they wanted their care delivered. We saw that care plans were being frequently updated following reviews to reflect the person's current needs and preferences.

People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise concerns and complaints but all we spoke with said they had not needed to complain formally. They told us they felt confident talking to the registered manager about anything that bothered them. They had been asked for their opinions and views and if they were happy with the services they received.

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of possible indicators of abuse and told us action they would take should they become aware of any concerns. Staff were aware of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and were able to describe how they supported people in a way which followed the principles of this legislation.

An assessment of activities and daily living needs had been completed as part of the pre-service assessment. This was done with people to help determine whether the service was able to meet the needs of the person requiring the care and support. The service made sure that detailed assessments were completed which identified people's individual risks and any environmental risks. As part of the assessment information was recorded to guide care staff on how to reduce and/or mitigate the risk to ensure that people were kept safe. A relative told us “[Relative’s] physical and emotional needs are well understood and they [care staff] get [relative] motivated. They know the approach to take and it works. We are very pleased with what the carers have achieved”.

Where the service supported people with the administration of medicines, we saw appropriate records in place to ensure that people were supported safely. The service had safe systems for the recruitment of staff to make sure the staff taken on were suited to working with people in their homes. We saw that care staff had receive