About the service:

My Homecare Slough South Bucks is a domiciliary care agency (DCA) registered to provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the Slough area. It provides a service to both younger and older adults. At the time of the inspection the agency was providing personal care and support to 21 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

• We heard feedback from people and their relatives that the service was exceptionally responsive when supporting people at the end of their lives. The service provided people with palliative care in conjunction with other professionals so that people could return to, or remain living in, their own homes when terminally ill or in a terminal condition. The registered manager and staff had the values and commitment to provide high quality care in this area of their service.

• People told us they received caring and kind support. Staff knew what was important to people and ensured people had care that met their needs and choices. People's dignity, confidentiality and privacy were respected and independence was promoted.

• People told us they felt safe with the staff. There was sufficient safely recruited staff. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Risks to people's well-being were assessed, recorded and updated when people's circumstances changed. The staff ensured any lessons learnt were reflected on to improve the service delivery.

• People received support that met their needs and was in line with care plans and good practice. 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. People were encouraged to maintain good diet and access health services when required.

• The service was well run by the registered manager who was supported by a team of committed staff. The provider's quality assurance processes were effective and there was a focus on continuous improvement. Where an area for improvement had been identified there was a prompt action taken to address it.

• People, staff and relatives were involved and felt listened to. The service worked well in partnership with other agencies, social and health professionals and external organisations.

Rating at last inspection: This was My Homecare Slough and South Bucks first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled and planned inspection.

Follow up: We will monitor all intelligence received about the service to inform the assessment of the risk profile of the service and to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.

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