This inspection took place on the 14 March 2017 and was announced. This was the first inspection since the service was registered in October 2015. KT's Care Angels Ltd is a medium sized domiciliary care agency providing care and reablement to older people in their own homes. The service forms part of the Carewatch Franchise Association. The majority of the people using the service had been commissioned from Ealing and Brent local authorities. At the time of our inspection 110 people were receiving a personal care service.

The service had a registered manager who had been in post since the service registered in 2015. 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’s needs were assessed and care plans were developed to identify what care and support people required. People said they were involved in their care planning and were happy to express their views or raise concerns. When people’s needs changed, this was identified and prompt, appropriate action was taken to ensure people’s well-being was protected. People had a copy of their care plan in their home.

People experienced positive outcomes as a result of the service they received and gave us good feedback about their care and support.

People were safe. Staff understood how to recognise the signs and symptoms of potential abuse and told us they would report any concerns they may have to their manager. Assessments were undertaken to assess any risks to the people using the service and the staff supporting them. This included environmental risks and any risks due to people’s health and support needs. The risk assessments we viewed included information about action to be taken to minimise these risks.

Staff were motivated and proud to work for the service; as a result staff turnover was kept to a minimum ensuring that continuity of care was in place for most people who used the service.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity. Staff told us they gave people privacy whilst they undertook aspects of personal care, asking people how they would like things done and making enquiries as to their well-being to ensure people were comfortable.

The service followed safe recruitment practices and carried out appropriate checks before staff started supporting people. There were sufficient numbers of staff to safely meet people’s needs.

The registered manager was passionate about her role and demonstrated leadership and a good understanding of the importance of effective quality assurance systems. There were processes in place to monitor quality and understand the experiences of people who used the service. We saw that regular visits and phone calls had been made by the office staff to people using the service and their relatives in order to obtain feedback about the staff and the care provided.

Care staff received regular supervision and support from their managers. These processes gave staff an opportunity to discuss their performance and identify any further training they required. Care staff placed a high value on their supervision and support. The service had recently appointed a training manager to ensure a robust program of mandatory training was in place.

People were supported to eat and drink, and supported people to take their medicines when required and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals as required to meet people’s needs.

The service had a complaints policy. People who used the service and their relatives told us they knew how to make a complaint if needed.