This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community, including specialist housing. It provides a service to adults and older people.

This is the first inspection of this service since it was taken over by My Life (Carewatch) Ltd in December 2016.

The inspection visit to the service’s office took place on 9 November 2017 and was announced. We gave the manager 48 hours’ notice as we needed to be sure that there would be someone in the office. Prior to the site visit, on 7 November 2017 we held telephone conversations with three people who were using the service and relatives of four other people who were using the service. On 16 November 2017 we spoke on the telephone with staff.

This service requires a registered manager as a condition of its registration. 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. There was a manager in post who had applied to the CQC for registration.

People felt safe with the staff and with the service that the staff provided them with. People were protected as far as possible from abuse and avoidable harm by staff who were trained and competent to recognise and report any potential harm. Assessments of all potential risks to people and to staff were carried out and measures put in place to minimise the risks.

There were enough staff deployed to make sure that people were safe and their needs could be met in a personalised and unhurried way. The provider had a recruitment process that reduced the risk of unsuitable staff being employed. Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as they had been prescribed. Staff followed the correct procedures to prevent the spread of infection. Staff understood their responsibility to report any accidents and incidents.

Holistic assessments of people’s needs were carried out to ensure that the service could meet those needs in the way the person preferred. Technology was used to enhance the care being provided. A telephone system stored all the information each staff member needed and logged the times the staff arrived at and left each person’s home.

Staff received induction, training and support to enable them to do their job well. When required, staff supported people with their meals by heating up a ready meal or making a sandwich. Staff involved other healthcare professionals such as GPs in people’s care if the person needed assistance with this.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People and their relatives were full of praise for the staff, told us the staff treated them with kindness and compassion and had very good relationships with the staff. Staff made people feel they mattered and knew each person, and the details about how they liked their care provided, very well.

People were involved in planning their care and support and information about advocacy services was available if anyone wanted an independent person to assist them with their affairs. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and supported and encouraged people to remain as independent as possible.

Care plans gave staff detailed guidance relating to the care and support each person needed so that people received personalised care that was responsive to their individual needs.

A complaints process was in place and people, their relatives and staff were confident that any issues would be addressed by the management team. The provider had a process in place to meet people’s end-of-life care needs when this was required.

People and their relatives praised the service, the management and the staff