The service is located on the outskirts of Oldham in Newton Heath. The service are registered to provide personal care in people’s own homes called domiciliary care and also supported living services to people who have Autism or a learning disability. There were three people using the supported living service and nobody currently using the domiciliary care service. One of the people using the supported living service was in hospital.

This was the first rated inspection for the service. This inspection was conducted on the 20 and 21 February 2018 and was announced in line with our guidance to ensure staff were present at the service.

There was no registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. The manager had been in post since October 2014. However, there was a person appointed at the service who had sent in an application to be registered and was to be interviewed on the 07 March 2018.

We made a recommendation that staff look at best practice guidelines for obtaining the last wishes of people who used the service.

Staff we spoke with were aware of how to protect vulnerable people and had safeguarding policies and procedures to guide them, which included the contact details of the local authority to report to.

Recruitment procedures were robust and ensured new staff should be safe to work with vulnerable adults.

Risk assessments for health needs or environmental hazards helped protect the health and welfare of people who used the service but did not restrict their lifestyles.

Staff were trained in the administration of medicines and managers checked the records to help spot any errors and keep people safe.

Staff were trained in infection control topics and issued with personal protective equipment to help prevent the spread of infection.

Staff received an induction and were supported when they commenced employment to become competent to work with vulnerable people. Staff were well trained and supervised to feel confident within their roles. Staff were encouraged to take further training in health and social care topics.

People were supported to take a healthy diet if required and staff were trained in nutrition and food safety.

The service were of aware of how to protect a person’s rights by following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act.

We observed a good rapport between people who used the service and staff. People were supported by a regular staff team who knew them well.

Staff were able to use their skills to communicate with people.

Personal records were held securely to help protect people’s privacy.

There was a complaints procedure for people to raise any concerns they may have.

People were assisted to attend meaningful activities.

Plans of care gave staff clear details of what care people needed. People helped develop their plans of care to ensure the care they received was what they wanted.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of service provision and where needed the manager took action to improve the service.

The office was suitable for providing a supported living/domiciliary care service and was staffed during office hours. There was an on call service for people to contact out of normal working hours.