This inspection took place on 30 July 2018 and was an announced inspection with the provider being given 48 hours notice to enable any staff available to be present. Calls were made to people using the service on 27 July and calls to staff on 03 August.

This was the first inspection of this service.

Martworld Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to younger and older adults living in their own homes who may have a learning disability, mental health condition, physical disability, sensory disability or dementia. On the day of the inspection 6 people were receiving support.

Martworld Care Services Limited is required to have a registered manager in post. At the time of inspection the nominated individual was in the role of ‘acting manager’. The nominated individual had begun the process of becoming 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that risk assessments were not always in place in order to mitigate any risk to people. Medicines were not always recorded correctly to show that people had their medicine as prescribed. References were not always taken correctly for new staff members. People felt safe in the care of staff members and were happy with staffing levels.

People felt that staff knew their needs and provided related care. Calls were carried out in a timely manner with no regular delay. Staff had an effective induction and received ongoing appropriate training. Staff gained consent from people prior to carrying out care and made people aware of the actions they were to take.

Staff were kind and caring towards people and positive relationships had been formed. Staff enabled people to be independent and to make choices where possible. People’s privacy and dignity needs were maintained by staff members caring for them.

Care plans were in place and these provided information on people’s needs. The cultural needs of people were acknowledged. People knew how to make complaints and were satisfied that they were dealt with appropriately, although related paperwork was not always completed adequately.

Audits did not always discover gaps in recording and there was some confusion over what had or hadn’t been audited. Spot checks were carried out to assess staff competency. The manager knew people well and their needs and responded to any issues. Team members were invited to meetings and able to voice their views. Feedback was taken from people to assess their opinions on the service. The acting manager worked in partnership with other agencies.