About the service:

Ivory Homecare provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 74 people receiving personal care from 13 staff.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

• People received high quality care that was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

• People were very happy with the service provided. Without exception, people and their relatives provided positive feedback about all aspects of the care they received.

• One relative told us, “I don’t know how I would have coped without them. They are here to care for [their loved one] but the care and affection they show me, has really kept me going.”

• People were protected from avoidable harm, and abuse by staff, who understood their role and responsibility in relation to safeguarding and keeping them safe.

• People experienced safe care, delivered in accordance with their comprehensive risk assessments and management plans.

• The service always deployed sufficient suitable staff to meet people’s needs.

• Staff felt they were valued and respected by the management team, who actively sought their involvement to improve and develop the service.

• The registered manager completed regular competency checks to ensure staff delivered care in accordance with their training.

• People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff, who were overwhelmingly described to be caring, gentle and patient.

• Staff supported people to be actively involved in making decisions about their care.

• People consistently praised the registered manager for their dedication and willingness to listen and respond to any worries they may have, which reassured them and instilled trust and confidence in the service.

• The registered manager set high standards and inspired staff to meet them.

• Relatives consistently told us their loved ones experienced kind and compassionate care at the end of their life and were supported to have a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death.

• The service was well-managed by the registered manager who provided clear and direct leadership which inspired their staff.

• Staff worked effectively with local organisations to improve care practice and outcomes.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (The last inspection report was published on 29 September 2016). At this inspection we found the service had remained good.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

This inspection took place on 29 September 2016 and was announced. Ivory Homecare is a domiciliary care service. At the time of the inspection they provided personal care to 70 people living in their own homes.

The day to day management of the service was carried out by the provider. There is no requirement for this service to have a registered manager.

Recruitment procedures helped to ensure suitable staff were employed at the service. Appropriate recruitment checks were carried out. However, the provider was unable to ensure they had a full employment history due to the lack of information on the application form. They addressed this immediately and made changes to the form for future recruitment.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines when they required them.

Staff received an effective induction and on-going training. They received support through one to one supervision meetings and annual appraisals. They also had informal access to senior members of staff and the provider. Staff felt they could discuss any issues openly and received guidance when they needed it.

People felt safe and well cared for. They said they were involved in planning their care and staff sought consent before support was provided. People felt staff treated them with respect and dignity. Staff had received training in safeguarding people and understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe. They were confident any issues reported regarding people’s safety were dealt with by the provider.

People were treated with kindness and told us staff were caring and compassionate. They were supported to remain as independent as they wished.

People’s views on the service were sought in a variety of ways and they were confident their views were listened to and acted upon. Staff were provided with information concerning people and changes to their care in a prompt manner. When necessary, staff contacted healthcare professionals to seek advice regarding people’s well-being.

Regular monitoring of the service helped the provider to maintain the quality of the service and take action to make improvements.

During our visit we were able to speak with people and review records.

Policies and procedures were in place to ensure care and support was delivered to people in line with their needs and wishes. Each case had been assessed appropriately by a suitably qualified person prior to people receiving care.

Care plans were kept under regular review and risks to people's safety were assessed. Plans to reduce and monitor risks to both people using the service and staff were recorded.

People were protected from the risk of abuse or harm by there being safeguarding policies and procedures in place and by staff knowing how and when to use them.

We saw there was a caring and experienced staff team who were well supported and trained to carry out their duties safely and effectively.

Records we reviewed showed us there were processes in place for the monitoring and recording of complaints. We saw that complaints were recorded in detail and dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner. There had been no complaints since the last inspection

People were positive about the manager and staff team and said they were kind and supportive. One person told us; "The staff are all so lovely, I couldn't ask for anything more" and another person said; "I really look forward to them coming, we chat about all sorts of things, they make my day".

We spoke with people and their representatives on the telephone. People who could

express a view told us they were very happy with the service provided. They said that the

staff were "kind" and" helpful and "they support me very well" and "the support given is

good." One person sated "I would be lost without them". Another person stated, "they do more than just care".

Representatives told us that staff were very kind, polite and courteous, and treated their relatives with dignity and respect. They said that staff knew what they were doing and were well trained.

One representative told us their relative had regular reviews of their care. They also told us that senior staff from the office would drop in unannounced to check that staff were doing their job to a good standard.

People and their representatives told us they would feel able to raise any complaints with

the owner and the manager. They told us they were confident that they would be responded to and dealt with in a timely manner.