Kinder Care and Support Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It currently provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults in the Exeter and Exmouth area.

Not everyone using Kinder Care and Support Ltd received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection there were 73 people receiving personal care.

The inspection was announced and took place on 05, 06 and 07 March 2018. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office. It also allowed us to arrange to visit people receiving a service in their own homes.

There was a manager in post who was in the process of applying as a registered manager with the Care Quality Commission. 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 service was a small family run business and the provider was supported by a manager and deputy manager, team leaders, care workers and care co-ordinators in the office.

The management team were committed to improvement to ensure they provided a good quality service to people. Although they were experienced in care there were some areas which required improvement including the quality assurance and leadership oversight of the service, to ensure standards were maintained with a robust system. The manager and deputy manager were keen to learn and improve systems to ensure people remained safe.

Staff provided good care but they were not always supported by consistent, relevant training or consistent care records, medicine administration information and risk assessments that clearly informed them about how to meet people’s individual needs. Most staff had received safeguarding training, four had not, although all staff we spoke to were knowledgeable about when and who to contact if they suspected anyone was at risk of abuse. The daily records showed that people were receiving person centred care in the way people preferred but this often involved people having to tell staff what to do if they had not visited before. People were happy with the care they received. For example, “On the whole, I am pleased with the carers and usually have the same two every week whom I find to be excellent as are the managers.” However, not all staff were competent to use manual handling equipment such as stand aids.

Care workers said they enjoyed working for the service. They were well motivated and committed to providing a service that was personalised to each individual. People were fully involved in the initial assessment before receiving care, but care planning itself was inconsistent and a care plan was not always discussed with people or formulated. Some people had no Kinder Care and Support Ltd care plan, other than the initial social services ‘My Plan’ or it lacked full information. This put people at risk of not receiving the care they needed, however despite this, we did not see any negative outcomes to people’s care, during our inspection.

There were quality assurance systems and audits but these were inconsistent relating to staff training and induction and care plan reviews. They had not identified all the areas which required improvement, found as a result of our inspection. There was no overview of staff training needs but the manager knew that training had been lacking in the past and had already booked a new training company for the n

We undertook an announced inspection of Kinder Care and Support Ltd (DCA) on 16 November 2015. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming to ensure the information we needed would be available. Kinder Care and Support Ltd provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection approximately 23 people were receiving a personal care service.

This service has not been inspected previously and was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in June 2015.

People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. People told us they liked the staff and found the care to be satisfactory. Peoples’ comments included “Oh yes they are lovely people.” And “The girls are very nice, I know them all and they really do give kinder care.”

People were supported to eat and drink. Staff supported people and recognised when they required health professional support. Staff liaised with other healthcare professionals as required to meet people’s needs, for example the district nursing team.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The manager was accessible and approachable. Staff, people who used the service and relatives felt able to speak with the registered manager and there were opportunities to provide regular feedback on the service. There were good systems in place to regularly monitor the quality of the service provided.