This inspection took place on 21 October 2016 and was announced. We gave the registered provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because it is a community based service and we needed to be sure the office would be staffed and sufficient information would be provided to allow us to contact people in their homes. We contacted people who received a service on 1 and 2 November 2016.

The service was last inspected on 10 December 2013 and was found to be meeting the regulations we inspected against.

HSL Care Limited is registered to provide personal care to people in the community, living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 46 people receiving a regulated activity.

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.

People said they were happy with the support they received and felt safe. Staff had up to date training in how to safeguard people and were confident in the roles. Staff knowledge of safeguarding was checked on a regular basis by senior management. This was done through questions during spot checks and direct observations.

People had risk assessments in place and associated care plans were clearly linked and updated in line with risk assessment reviews.

Medicines were managed safely, effectively and in a way which reflected people’s individual needs. All records were up to date and fully completed, with medicine audits being carried out regularly.

Staffing levels were consistent with people’s needs. Staff were recruited in a safe and consistent manner with all appropriate checks carried out.

Accidents and incidents were recorded with details of any action taken to deal with the issue.

Staff had up to date training in and either had completed, or were in the process of completing the care certificate. The care certificate is a set of standards that social care and health workers work to in their daily working life. It is the new minimum standards that should be covered as part of induction training of new care workers. Staff were supported in their roles and received regular performance reviews and direct observations as well as annual appraisals.

The service provided personalised support to each individual. People had personalised care plans in place that included information around their preferences.

People had access to a range of health and social care professionals when required, including GP’s, district nurses, occupational therapists, podiatrists, pharmacists and opticians.

People and relatives knew how to raise concerns if they were unhappy and were confident their complaints would be investigated and actioned.

The registered provider had quality assurance arrangements in place to regularly assess the quality and safety of the service provided. They were effective in identifying issues and required improvements.

People using the service and their relatives told us that HSL Limited was meeting the assessed needs of people using the service effectively. Comments made included;

"The staff have all been really good, they speak to me politely and are very reliable."

"I am consulted at all times about how they (the staff) are supporting me and I am very pleased with the way they help me."

“It is usually the same staff who come to make sure I am ok, they are always nice with me, have very good manners and I could not manage without them.”

“The service is very reliable. If there is a delay in staff getting to me the office staff ring me and explain. They have never missed a call to me.”

“The care and support I get is second to none. I am very happy with the services of the agency.”

“They (the agency) have responded well to my requirements. When there have been issues they have listened to me and responded properly.”

“There were a few problems at first, but they were soon sorted and me and my family are very happy with the service I get.”

We found that the agency had suitable arrangements in place to ensure people using the service were respected and involved in planning their care and support, meeting their assessed needs and keeping them safe. There were also appropriate arrangements made to provide appropriate staff training and manage any complaints or concerns raised about the service.

People using the service told us that the agency was meeting their care and support needs properly. They also said that they were involved and consulted about how they were cared for and supported and that care staff treated them with respect and maintained their dignity.

People we talked with had a high regard for the organisation and felt that staff were supported to be effective and safe workers.

We were told that staff gave people a choice and were flexible. People said: “They always get my relatives permission.”

People felt that the level of care provided was to a high standard and told us: “I am very happy with the service since they started and know that if I had any complaints I could meet with them to iron out issues out but I’m confident that they are doing a good job.”

We found there were effective systems in place to ensure people were involved in planning their care and support.

We found systems in place to check that assessments and care plans were up to date and met people’s needs.

We found that a robust recruitment and selection process was used which meant the employment of suitable staff was promoted.

Quality monitoring systems were in place and effective.