This was an announced inspection that took place on 22 November 2016.

Panashe Home Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The office is based in the city of Leicester and the service currently provides care and support to people living in Leicester and Leicestershire. At the time of our inspection there were five people using the service. People’s packages of care varied dependent upon their needs. The provider employed four care staff.

This was our first inspection of the service since they registered with us on September 2016.

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.

People told us they felt safe with the staff providing the care. People were protected from harm and risks by staff who were trained, able to recognise signs of abuse and knew who to report concerns to.

People’s care needs were assessed and measures were in place to manage risks. People were involved in the development of their care plans which provided staff with clear guidance on how to support people safely whilst promoting their independence.

People were supported to take their medicines safely. Staff supported people, where required, with their meals and drinks. Records showed people were supported to access healthcare services when required.

The provider’s recruitment procedures ensured that staff were suitable to provide care and support to people living in their own homes. People’s needs were met by sufficient numbers of staff required in line with their assessed needs.

Staff were supported and received training on a range of subjects which equipped them with the skills and knowledge they needed to ensure people’s care needs were met. Staff had regular contact with the registered manager who worked alongside them in order to support them and meet people's care needs.

The registered manager and staff had an understanding of the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and support and respected their wishes in how they wanted to be supported.

People and relatives spoke positively about the food that staff prepared. Staff worked with other health and social professionals to ensure that people received the health care they needed.

People told us they made decisions about how they wanted their care to be provided. Staff were knowledgeable about how people wished to be supported and their preferences which were consistent with their care plans. Staff maintained people's privacy and dignity whilst supporting them to remain as independent as possible.

Care plans were personalised and provided staff with clear guidance to enable staff to provide care that respected people’s individual preferences. Whilst people’s care needs were regularly reviewed the registered manager assured us they would pro-actively involve the person and their relative to ensure care plan were accurate.

People and relatives we spoke with were complimentary about staff’s attitude and approach and had developed positive relationships with them. We were told that staff were caring and responsive to their needs and maintained people's privacy and dignity whilst supporting them to remain independent.

The registered manager was responsive to concerns and took steps to ensure issues or concerns were addressed. The registered manager assured us that improvements were being made to the on-call system to ensure people and their relatives were informed when staff were late to arrive. Staff told us that the registered manager was responsive and provided support whenever required.

There was a complaints procedure and peop