Oakhaven Care Limited provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care', that is, help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection the agency was providing a service for 17 older people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss due to the progression of age.

The service had a 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 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 on 25 January 2017, we found one breach of regulation. The service was non-compliant with effective management systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality of service people received. During this inspection we found that sufficient action had been taken and they were now compliant.

We received positive feedback from people about the service. All the people who used the service and their families expressed great satisfaction and spoke highly of the care staff. A complaints procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.

People felt safe with the service provided by Oakhaven Care Limited and risks to people were minimized through appropriate risk management. There were plans in place for foreseeable emergencies.

Relevant recruitment checks were conducted before staff started working at Oakhaven Care Limited to make sure they were of good character and had the necessary skills. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse.

People were supported to take their medicines safely from suitably trained staff. Medication administration records (MAR) confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed. Staff contacted healthcare professionals promptly when they had concerns about people’s health and wellbeing.

People felt they were treated with kindness and compassion and said their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and understood that people had the right to make their own choices.

People were supported with their nutritional needs when required. People received varied meals including a choice of fresh food and drinks. Staff were aware of people’s likes and dislikes and went out of their way to provide people with what they wanted.

Staff completed a wide range of training and felt it supported them in their job role. New staff completed an induction before being permitted to work unsupervised. Staff told us they felt supported and received regular supervision and support to discuss areas of development. Staff meetings were held regularly. There were sufficient numbers of staff to maintain the schedule of care visits to meet people’s needs.

Staff felt supported by the registered manager and could visit the office to discuss any concerns. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided. Accidents and incidents were monitored, analysed and remedial actions identified to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

The inspection of Oakhaven Care Limited took place on 25 January 2017 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice because this was a domiciliary care serviced and there were times when the registered manager was out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who used the service. We needed to be sure that someone would be in the office. The inspection involved a visit to the agency's office and telephone conversations with seven people who used the service.

Oakhaven Care Limited is based in Lymington, Hampshire. They are registered to provide personal care. The service provides care and support for adults living in their own homes and includes support for people with physical disabilities, sensory impairment and people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 59 people received personal care from the service.

A registered manager was 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.

Quality checks had not been completed regularly to ensure people reliably received all of the care they needed. Although staff were routinely recording accidents and incidents these were not effectively analysed and investigated to identify any trends or patterns.

Risks to people's wellbeing and safety had been effectively mitigated. We found individual risks had been assessed and recorded in people's care plans. Examples of risk assessments relating to personal care included moving and handling, nutrition, falls and continence information.

People told us they felt safe receiving the care and support provided by the service. Staff understood and knew the signs of potential abuse and knew what to do if they needed to raise a safeguarding concern. Training schedules confirmed staff had received training in safeguarding adults at risk.

Robust recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been made before staff began work at the service. There were sufficient levels of staff to protect people's health, safety and welfare consistently and reliably.

People said staff were caring and kind and their individual needs were met. Staff knew people well and demonstrated they had a good understanding of people's needs and choices.

We looked at care records and found good standards of person centred care planning. Care plans represented people's needs, preferences and life stories to enable staff to fully understand people's needs and wishes. The good level of person centred care meant people led independent lifestyles, maintained relationships and were fully involved in the local community.

Staff felt supported by management, they said they were well trained and understood what was expected of them. Staff were encouraged to provide feedback and report concerns to improve the service.

There was a complaints policy and information regarding the complaints procedure was available. Complaints were listened to, investigated in a timely manner, and used to improve the service.

Feedback from people was positive regarding the standard of care they received.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we have told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.