The inspection took place on 26 and 27 June 2017 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care agency to people living in their own homes. We wanted to be certain the registered manager and key staff would be available on the day of our inspection. We also wanted to give them sufficient time to seek agreements with people that we could visit them to find out their experience of the service.

Home Instead Senior Care South Devon is based in Paignton, Devon and provides a domiciliary care service to people living in their own homes in the South Devon area. At the time of this inspection they provided personal care to 37 people. Home Instead Senior Care is part of a franchise that delivers care to people in many areas of the United Kingdom and 17 countries across the world. The service offered includes personal care such as assistance with bathing, dressing, eating and medicines. The staff who support people wish to be known as 'caregivers’ and therefore we have used this term throughout this report.

The service is a family run business. The providers are a husband and wife team who are fully involved in the day-to-day management of the service. One of the providers is also the 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.

The provider told us their aim was “To become the UK’s most admired care company through changing the face of ageing.” They provided a highly bespoke service for each person, carefully recruiting caregivers to match the personality and needs of individuals. The provider took care to make sure every aspect of the service people received was safe, and people were protected from the risk of harm or abuse. The provider was very selective when recruiting new caregivers, taking care to gather sufficient references and checks to ensure the caregivers were entirely trustworthy, honest and had the right skills and qualities for the post. They looked for staff with a ‘good heart’ and with good communication skills. Caregivers confirmed their recruitment process was thorough, for example a caregiver told us they had been “Very well recruited.” All caregivers received thorough training at the start of their employment including safeguarding and health and safety topics. They also received ongoing training and updates on topics relevant to the needs of people using the service, including dementia awareness.

All caregivers were introduced to people before they began providing care, and if the person did not feel the caregiver was suitable the person’s views were respected. They provided a consistent service, with most people receiving care from a small team of two caregivers they knew and trusted who visited them at the same times each week. When their regular caregivers were on leave the cover was always provided by a caregiver they knew, and who had been previously introduced to them. The service aimed to give people the time they needed to complete all tasks without feeling rushed and therefore the minimum length of each visit was one hour. There was a strong emphasis on providing care with compassion, respect and dignity. People told us they had built up a close trust and friendship with their caregivers and praised the caregivers. One person described the service as “Wonderful!” and went on to say “They are friends. They are human. They are lovely.” Another person who enjoyed outings with caregivers told us, “They are my friends. We go places.”

Each person had a care plan in place that set out in detail their health and personal care needs, how they wanted to be supported, their daily routines and preferences. The care plans were regularly reviewed an