This inspection took place on 3 March 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to ensure there would be someone available at the office. This was the first inspection of this service since they registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 25 July 2016.

Raza Homecare Care provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. People who use the service have a variety of needs and, include older people and people with physical disabilities. There were 10 people using the service at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the 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 registered manager ensured risks to people were mitigated by assessing risks and putting suitable management plans in place for staff to follow. People were involved in the risk assessment and care planning process. Risk assessments and care plans were reviewed regularly to ensure information in them remained current and reliable for staff to follow.

Care workers understood how to keep people safe and how to respond if they suspected people were being abused. Care workers received training in this to help increase their understanding about how to care for people appropriately.

The provider managed people’s medicines safely and had a clear policy to only provide care to people who required minimal support with medicines, such as prompting to reduce the risk of errors occurring.

There were enough care workers deployed to meet people’s needs. Care workers received the right support to carry out their roles through effective induction, support and supervision. The registered manager carried out various checks of staff’s suitability to work at the service, including criminal records, previous employment and identity checks before recruiting them. Some people reported a communication barrier with some staff and the registered manager was aware of, and looking into this to improve communication.

A suitable complaints policy was in place and people were confident the registered manager would respond appropriately if they had cause to complain.

The registered manager and staff were aware of their responsibilities in supporting people in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People received appropriate support to meet their needs including their health care needs and needs associated with eating and drinking.

Care workers were caring and treated people with dignity and respect and knew the people they were supporting well. People’s preferences were recorded in their care plans and staff understood this information and provided care to people in line with it. People were involved in making decisions about their own care.

The provider had a range of systems to monitor and assess the quality of the service including gathering and acting on the views of people who used the service and care workers. The registered manager encouraged open communication with people and care workers.