About the service:

Royle Care Limited provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 54 people receiving personal care from 45 staff.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People experienced high quality care that was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led, from a service which consistently demonstrated the characteristics of a good service in all areas.

• Without exception, people and their relatives provided positive feedback about all aspects of the care they received.

• People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse by staff members, who understood their role and responsibility in relation to safeguarding and keeping them safe.

• People experienced safe care, delivered in accordance with their risk assessments and management plans.

• The service deployed enough suitable staff who had been enabled with the required skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs.

• Staff members felt they were valued and respected by the management team, who actively sought their involvement to improve and develop the service.

• Staff members had meaningful, caring relationships with people, which respected their dignity and privacy, and promoted their independence.

• People’s care and support met their needs and reflected their preferences. The provider upheld people’s human rights.

• Staff members supported people to be actively involved in making decisions about their care.

• The provider assessed and met people's individual communication needs and responded quickly when people's needs changed.

• People experienced kind and compassionate care at the end of their life and were supported to have a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death.

• The service was well-managed by the registered manager, who provided clear and direct leadership

• The registered manager was a good role model who set high standards and inspired staff to meet them.

• Staff members worked in effectively in partnership with professionals to deliver care and support and developed links with the local community.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection (published 21 November 2016) we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the service had remained good.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to check the service remained good.

Follow up:

We did not identify any concerns at this inspection. We will therefore re-inspect this service within our published timeframe for services rated good. We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. If any concerning information is received about the service we may inspect sooner.

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

This inspection took place on 18 and 19 October 2016 and was announced. We gave the manager prior notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office.

Royle Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to mostly older people who live in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 47 people using the service and receiving personal care.

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 and the nominated individual supported us during inspection.

People felt safe while supported by the staff and relatives agreed. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe and their responsibilities for reporting accidents, incidents or concerns. Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and acted on these to keep people safe.

People were supported by sufficient staff to meet their individual needs. Some of them were not always informed about the changes to the visit and timings of the visit. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people. Checks were made to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.

There were safe medicines administration systems in place and people received their medicines when required. People's health and wellbeing was monitored and appropriate action was taken when required.

People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was promoted. People said their care and support workers were good and supported them in the way they wanted them to. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people they supported and enabled them to improve and maintain their independence with personal care. Risks to people’s personal safety were assessed and plans were in place to minimise those risks.

Staff training records indicated which training was considered mandatory by the provider. Staff were up to date with their mandatory training. The registered manager had planned and booked training when necessary to ensure all staff had appropriate knowledge to support people. Staff received supervision and appraisals to discuss various matters and review their performance.

People received support that was individualised to their specific needs. Their needs were monitored and support plans were kept under review and amended as changes occurred. People's rights to make their own decisions, where possible, were protected and staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people's rights to make their own decisions were promoted.

Staff felt they worked well together most of the time, which benefitted people. Staff felt management worked with them as a team most of the time though the communication and openness could be improved at times. The provider was aware of the concerns and action was being taken to address this.

Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered and the running of the service. The service always looked at improvements to ensure people received the best support.

As part of this inspection we visited the homes of three people who use the service. We looked at people’s records of care and spoke with people about the quality of care provided by Royle care. We received positive comments about services such as, “they are the best I have had” and “I am very happy with the care provided, the carers are excellent”.

People told us they had been involved in planning their care and support. One person said, “The staff asked me what I needed and I told them.” We found that the assessment and care planning system was thorough and comprehensive. It gave clear guidance to staff about how to deliver care safely and effectively. People’s individual preferences and wishes were recorded in their care plan. People told us they were always treated with dignity and respect. One person said, “The staff know how I like things done.” Another person said, “The carers are very kind and always ask me what I want.”

Staff understood the provider’s safeguarding procedures and understood their individual responsibilities to report concerns. People who use the service told us they liked the staff, felt safe and trusted them.

Staff told us they felt well supported and were provided with appropriate training to enable them to care for people safely and effectively.

The service effectively monitored the quality of services provided. We saw people were regularly asked for their views about the quality of services delivered.