About the service: Holistic Social Care Birmingham, is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes in the Birmingham area. The service provides support to all adult service user groups but had primarily been established to meet the specific cultural needs of Muslims from Somalia. At the time of this inspection there were two people receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service:

Safeguarding policies and procedures ensured people were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. One person we spoke with told us they felt safe because of the care and support they received.

Effective risk assessments and management plans ensured people were supported to manage risks in their daily lives.

Where people were supported with medicines we could see this had been provided safely.

Effective infection control policies and access to the right equipment ensured people were protected from the risk of infection.

Staff had been recruited safely and were deployed in ways which ensured people received their full visit.

People's needs had been assessed holistically and support plans developed to ensure people were supported effectively. People had been supported to maintain their health and wellbeing and had access to healthcare services when required.

Staff had received a robust induction and ongoing training the staff we spoke with felt they had effective knowledge and skills to support people. One person we spoke with praised the skills and knowledge of the staff.

Staff understood the importance of achieving consent before providing care and support. At the time of this inspection there was no one subject to any deprivation of liberty that might need to be authorised under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Nonetheless staff we spoke with were aware of their obligations under this legislation.

Staff were seen to be kind and caring. One person we spoke with praised the staff's caring approach and respectful support, particularly in relation to their cultural and religious needs.

People were fully involved in making decisions about their care, communication guides were clear which ensured people were supported appropriately including other languages.

People's diversity and equality needs were clearly identified in their care records and the support people needed to maintain these was detailed.

People received person centred care which was responsive to their needs. We could see people had been referred for review and reassessment when required in response to their changing needs.

People's concerns and complaints had been considered and responded to in a timely way following the service's procedure.

There was a clear vision and culture based on achieving high quality care and positive outcomes for people. The management team sought to embed these values in the team.

Regular monitoring and auditing of care records and practice helped to maintain the quality and values of the service people received.

There was a clear commitment to support people with specific protected characteristics which informed the culture of the service. This had been valued by people receiving a regulated activity.

Why we inspected: This was the first inspection following the service registering in July 2017.

Follow up: The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.

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