This inspection took place on 18 May 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Home Care Finder Limited provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, they were providing personal care services to 44 people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss. The service is managed from an office based in Sutton Scotney.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

The registered manager was a good role model for their staff. They took a hands on approach to the day to day running of the service and were knowledgeable about people and their needs. The registered manager was committed to making continuous improvements and was developing quality assurance tools, which would help enable them to monitor the safety and quality of the service.

People told us that the registered manager was friendly and approachable and was very accommodating to making changes in response to suggestions, feedback or concerns about the service. The registered manager sought people’s feedback through a range of sources including visits, formal reviews and questionnaires.

Staff had received effective training and supervision which was suitable for their role. The service had made efforts to support staff to further their skills and knowledge by dedicating resources and time to support staff’s learning and development. Staff were dedicated in their role and understood the needs of the people they supported and how to follow legislation to protect their rights.

The registered manager followed safe recruitment processes, which helped to ensure that suitable candidates worked with people. There were sufficient numbers of staff available. People told us that the service provided consistent staff teams to carry out their care visits. New staff received an induction in their new role, which helped the registered manager monitor their skills and behaviours.

People were treated with dignity and respect and told us they were happy with the care they received from staff. The registered manager had received many positive testimonials from relatives of people who had received end of life care from the service. Staff had received additional training in this area of support and the service had a consistent history of providing compassionate care.

Staff had received training in safeguarding and understood how they could help keep people safe. Risks to individuals were assessed and monitored. The service was quick to respond to changes in people’s health or wellbeing by making referrals to appropriate healthcare professionals and adjusting care arrangements to meet their changing needs. Where people had incidents or accidents, the registered manager looked for potential causes and investigated ways to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.

The service had systems and processes in place to support the running of the service outside of office hours and in emergencies, such as severe weather. People’s needs had been assessed and prioritised and the registered manager had arranged for contingencies to be put in place to help ensure people received a visit in line with their needs.

People’s care plans were detailed and included information about how they would like to be supported around their personal care routines. Where people required support with their medicines or eating and drinking, the level of support required was clearly identified for staff to follow. People told us they were involved in dev

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looked at the overall quality of the service.

The inspection was announced in order to ensure that the people we needed to talk to were available, 48 hours notice was given before the inspection. Rank Lodge, also known as Home Care Finder is a community care agency which provides personal care, respite care and a domestic service to adults and older people between the ages of 18 – 65 years. The agency operates in north and north west Hampshire and east Wiltshire. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing care and support to 58 people who needed support with a range of tasks such as personal care, meal preparation and respite care.

Rank Lodge had not had a registered manager in place since May 2014. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. The provider told us that a recruitment process was underway to appoint a new manager. In the interim, the provider had appointed a business and a care consultant to support the existing management team in the day to day running and on-going development of the service.

At our last inspection in October 2013 we found that the service was not complying with some aspects of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This was because the Provider had not assessed the mental capacity of people to ensure they were able to give valid consent to their care and support. The provider sent us an action plan telling us that they would be compliant by May 2014. At this inspection we judged that the service had made the required improvements. Staff were considering whether people had mental capacity to agree to their care and support plans. We found therefore that the service had addressed the previous concerns that we had.

People told us they felt safe when being supported by care workers. Staff had a good understanding of how to identify and act on allegation of abuse to help keep people safe. Staff were aware of the importance of disclosing concerns about poor practice or abuse and understood about the organisation’s whistleblowing policy.

Safe recruitment practices and appropriate pre-employment checks were completed before new staff started at the service.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff so people received their care from a team of care workers who were familiar with their needs.

People told us care workers provided them with the support they needed. We observed care and support being delivered in line with people’s care plans by care workers who were familiar with the needs and preferences. One person told us, "They are all used to my quirky habits, they understand what they need to do."

Staff were supported to develop their skills and knowledge by providing a programme of induction and training which helped them to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. However some staff had not received all of the training relevant to their role.

People were asked what assistance they needed with food and drinks when the service assessed their needs. Care workers were aware of how to identify whether a person might not be eating and drinking in sufficient quantities to maintain their wellbeing.

Staff were kind and respectful to people. Overall people we spoke with were positive about their care and the support they received from staff. One person told us the care workers were, "Wonderful, absolutely super." Another person described the care workers as "Extremely thoughtful and kind." A third person said, "I like my carers very much, they are nice in every way."

People’s assessments and care plans were reviewed on a regular basis and updated as their needs changed. This helped to ensure that people received the care and support they needed. Staff told us how they read people’s support plans and used the information in them provide personalised care.

People told us they knew how to make a complaint. Information about the complaints procedure was included in the service user guide which we found in the homes of each of the people we visited. People were confident that any complaints would be taken seriously and action would be taken by the service.

There was a management team in place which helped to ensure that the service was well led in the absence of a registered manager. There were some systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. Further measures, such as weekly reports and a range of audits, were being developed to ensure the provider had greater oversight of events which might affect the quality and safety of the service.

We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, six members of staff and nine people who use the service or their relatives.

Everyone said they were asked for their consent before care was given. One person said “Yes, they ask me about my care and explain what they are going to do.” However, we found that assessments of people’s mental capacity to consent to care were not carried out.

People’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered to support people’s safety and welfare. People’s care was reviewed and updated regularly. One person said “The care staff are lovely”

We spoke with six members of care staff, including one who had recently been recruited, and they confirmed that the recruitment process had been followed. All confirmed that they had not started work until a satisfactory criminal records bureau (CRB) check had been received by the service.

We saw records which showed that the service was regularly monitored for improvements to the service such as a customer feedback survey and regular feedback from staff. Incidents were recorded and investigated and complaints were logged and responded to appropriately.

People who used the service were very positive about the care they received and said they were always treated with dignity and respect. One person told us that their carer "always knocked the door before coming in and they've been coming to me for years". People told us they were given choices about their care and were involved in discussions and the planning of their care.

People said they felt safe with staff and felt able to tell them about anything if they had any concerns. One person told us "I trust my carer with my life, literally".

Staff we spoke to said they felt they had appropriate training in order for them to do their jobs properly and safely. They told us that any extra training they asked for, if it was relevant to their role, would be arranged by the manager and that they were encouraged to progress within the company.

We saw measures were in place to continually improve and raise the standards of care being delivered. People were involved in regular meetings and written information was circulated to all concerned enabling everyone to be kept informed about what was going on.