About the service: Optimal Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats within supported living schemes as well as people living in their own homes in the community. The service supports people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health. The service was supporting six people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: Some people that we met were unable to tell us how they felt about the care and support that they received from Optimal Care Service Ltd. Our observations, however, were positive and we saw that people seemed happy and content with the support that they received. People who could speak with us told us that they were happy with the way in which they were supported.

Relatives also commented that they were assured that their relative was safe and that they received the appropriate care and support as required.

Risks associated with people’s care, medical and health needs had been identified and appropriately assessed so that support staff had the appropriate guidance to ensure people’s safety.

Staff knew of the different types of abuse and explained the actions they would take to safeguard people from harm.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Policies in place supported this.

Only those staff assessed as safe to work with vulnerable adults were recruited. We observed there to be sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s assessed needs.

Care plans were detailed, person centred and gave clear direction to staff on how people wanted to be supported. However, for one person we did note that their care plan was not reflective of their current needs despite it being reviewed by the service. The care plan was updated following the inspection.

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 had access to a variety of health care professionals and services where required.

People could choose what they wanted to eat and drink and were supported by staff to make healthy choices where appropriate. People were able to access drinks and snacks at any time.

Relatives told us that support staff were kind and caring. We observed positive, friendly and jovial interactions between people and the support staff.

People and their relatives knew who to speak with if they had any concerns to raise and were assured that this would be addressed appropriately.

Senior and team managers including the registered manager had systems in place which allowed them to monitor and check the quality of the care and support people received. This enabled them to implement further learning and improvements where required.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Report published October 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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

This inspection was undertaken on 4 October 2016. We gave the provider two days’ notice that we would be visiting their head office. We gave the provider notice as we wanted to make sure that someone would be available on the day of our inspection.

Optimal Care Services Limited provides support and personal care to people with learning difficulties, living in four supported living houses in Havering. There were six people using the service at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The registered manager was not available on the day of the inspection visit and we were assisted by the operations manager throughout the inspection.

People told us they were well treated by the staff and felt safe and trusted them.

Staff could explain how they would recognise and report abuse and they understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe.

Where any risks to people’s safety had been identified, the management had thought about and recorded ways to mitigate risks.

The service was generally following appropriate recruitment procedures to make sure that only suitable staff were employed at the service.

Staff we spoke with had a good knowledge of the medicines that people were taking. People told us they were satisfied with the way their medicines were managed.

People who used the service and their relatives were positive about the staff and told us they had confidence in their abilities.

Staff told us that they were provided with training in the areas they needed in order to support people effectively.

Staff understood that it was not right to make choices for people when they could make choices for themselves and people’s ability around decision making, preferences and choices were recorded in their support plans and followed by staff.

People told us they were happy with the support they received with eating and drinking and staff were aware of people’s dietary requirements and preferences.

People confirmed that they were involved as much as they wanted to be in the planning of their care and support. Support plans included the views of people using the service and their relatives. Relatives told us they were kept up to date about any changes by staff and management.

People and their relatives told us that the management and staff were quick to respond to any changes in their needs and support plans reflected how people were to receive care and treatment in accordance with their current needs and preferences.

People told us they had no complaints about the service but said they felt able to raise any concerns without worry.

The service had a number of quality monitoring systems including yearly surveys for people using the service and their relatives. People we spoke with confirmed that they were asked about the quality of the service and had made comments about this. They felt the service took their views into account in order to improve service delivery.

There was one person using the service at the time of our inspection and we spoke with their relative, care worker and social worker. Comments praising the service included "they've been going out to so many places they haven't been to before since (the care worker) has been helping out," and examples given were the local parks, shops, museums and the London Eye. Further comments were in relation to personalisation of care plans, such as "the service is working really hard on this."

We found that people were involved in their care and their privacy and dignity were respected. Care plans contained detailed information and were updated to reflect changes in people’s needs. The service had systems in place to ensure people were safeguarded. Staff training was provided before care workers commenced their roles. The provider had an effective system in place for monitoring the quality of the service.