The inspection took place on 04, 06 and 11 April 2018 and was announced.

The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger adults who may have a physical or learning disability or a mental health need.

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 this inspection, four people were being supported with personal care. The service supports these people on a 24 hour basis.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service remains Good.

We visited and spoke to three people in their own homes and observed the interaction between them and the staff supporting them. People were not able to fully verbalise their views, so staff used other methods of communication, for example visual choices and sign language.

People remained safe using the service. People were protected by safe recruitment procedures to help ensure staff, were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff confirmed there were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s care needs, and support them with additional support including activities.

People’s medicines were managed safely. Medicines were stored, given to people as prescribed and disposed of safely. Staff received medicines training and understood the importance of safe administration and management of medicines. Where staff supported people to manage their finances, amounts of money spent on the person’s behalf were carefully recorded and balances maintained and checked to help ensure people’s finances were managed safely.

People’s risks were assessed, monitored and managed by staff to help ensure they remained safe. Risk assessments were completed to help support and enable people to retain as much independence as possible.

People continued to receive care from staff who had the skills and knowledge required to effectively support them. Staff had completed safeguarding training and the Care Certificate (a nationally recognised training course for staff new to care). Staff confirmed the Care Certificate training looked at and discussed the equality and diversity needs of people.

People's human rights were protected because the registered manager and staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). People's nutritional needs were met because staff followed people's support plans to make sure people were eating and drinking enough, and potential risks were known. People were supported to access health care professionals to maintain their health and wellbeing.

People were enabled and supported to lead fulfilling, independent and active lives. People were supported to reach their goals and ambitions. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Risks associated with people's care and individual living environment were effectively managed to ensure their freedom was promoted. People were

Due to people's conditions we were not able to discuss their experience in detail. However, all the people we spoke with made positive comments. One person said "I think they're very good. I can talk to them and make choices." A relative said "I'm so pleased with everything, they go above and beyond what's needed."

People were encouraged to maintain their independence and set themselves goals. Staff told us how people were enabled to meet their own personal hygiene needs and to retain their mobility. Staff made positive comments to reinforce and encourage people's independence and achieve their goals.

The service provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes. We saw that support plans were personalised to reflect the needs of the person they were about. Information was comprehensive and showed evidence of review and update. Risk assessments had been developed around individual areas of risk, these showed evidence of updating and review.

Assessment and monitoring of the service was in place through meetings held with people who used the service. Their views were sought and suggestions welcomed for any areas of improvement.

The manager demonstrated a good awareness of the needs of people that use the service and looked at guidance in order to improve care when needed. This meant the service sought professional advice for the best interests of the people who use the service.

The inspection took place on 4 and 11 December 2015 and was announced. The provider was given notice because the location was a domiciliary care agency (DCA) and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. We also gave notice to enable the agency to arrange home visits with people’s consent.

Michael Batt DCA provides a personal care service to people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection five people were being supported by Michael Batt with their personal care needs.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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 were protected by safe recruitment procedures to help ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to support people safely. Staff received an induction programme. Staff had completed training and had the right skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Staff described the management as very open, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs and felt motivated to provide quality care.

Care records contained information that described what staff needed to do to provide individual care and support. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs. Where appropriate, friends, relatives and health and social care professionals were involved in identifying people’s needs. People’s preferences, disabilities and abilities were taken into account, communicated and recorded.

People’s risks were managed well and monitored. The service had policies and procedures in place and these were understood by staff to help protect people and keep them safe.

People were encouraged and supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet.

People’s medicines were managed safely and people and staff told us people received their medicines as prescribed.

People, their relatives and staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements. This helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

The service sought verbal feedback from people and encouraged people to share their concerns and complaints. The registered manager investigated any complaints or concerns thoroughly and used the outcome as an opportunity for learning to take place.

The registered manager and staff had completed training in the Mental Capacity Act. The registered manager displayed a good understanding of the requirements of the act, which had been followed in practice.

People were kept safe and protected from discrimination. All staff had undertaken training on safeguarding from abuse and equality and diversity. Staff understood the principles, had a good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place to help drive improvements and ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.