About the service: Shipston Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our visit the agency supported 21 people but only 15 people received assistance with personal care. Shipston Care Limited also provided a live-in service for four other people. Three of these people received support with their personal care.

What is life like for people using the service:

• Staff were not always recruited safely.

• The provider’s induction for staff did not reflect recognised best practice and staff had not received the training they needed to be safe and effective in their roles.

• Risk’s associated with people’s planned care were not always identified or well managed.

• Medicines were not always safely managed.

• People felt safe and were protected from avoidable harm

• People spoke positively about the care they received and told us that all staff were caring and kind

• People received their care calls at the times expected from staff they knew.

• People’s individual needs were assessed to ensure they could be met by the service.

• People made their own decisions about their care and were supported by staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

• People’s privacy and dignity was respected and their independence promoted.

• Where needed people were supported to meet their nutritional needs and to maintain their health and well-being.

• People received information about the service in a way they could understand and chose how to live their lives in the least restrictive way possible.

• People were involved in planning and agreeing their care.

• Where necessary, referrals to other healthcare professionals were made and people’s families were involved.

• Care plans were being developed and contained the information staff needed to provide personalised care.

• Systems were in place to manage and respond to any complaints or concerns raised.

• The registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities and was committed to making improvements to the service to ensure better outcomes were achieved.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated Good. (The last report was published on 15 September 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service is now rated as requires improvement overall.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our 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

Shipston Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care support to people in their own homes. At the time of our visit the agency supported 29 people with personal care. It also provided a live-in service for one person.

We visited the offices of Shipston Care Limited on 28 July and 10 August 2016. We told the care manager before the visit we were coming so they could arrange to be available to talk with us about the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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. The registered manager, who was also the provider of the service, was unavailable at our first visit on 28 July 2016 as they were on annual leave. We therefore returned on 10 August 2016 so they had an opportunity to answer some of our questions about the service and their future plans.

People told us they felt safe with care staff. Care staff understood how to protect people from abuse and about risks to people's safety. They told us they reported any concerns they had to the registered manager or staff based in the office so they could be acted upon.

There were enough care staff to deliver the care and support people required. Care staff generally arrived at the times they were expected and stayed long enough to complete all the tasks required of them. People told us care staff were thoughtful, caring and treated them with kindness. The length of calls meant care staff did not have to rush and had time to deliver care at a pace that suited people. People told us care staff were polite and respectful of them and their homes and encouraged them to do as much for themselves as possible but provided support when necessary. Care staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, gave people choices and respected their decisions.

People told us their support needs had been discussed and agreed with them when the service started. They told us they were given a copy of their care plan and the service they received met their needs, choices and preferences. People told us they generally received care from care staff who knew them, although some people told us there had been some changes recently. Each week all the care staff attended a team meeting during which they discussed the needs of the people who used the service to ensure they had the information they needed to respond to changes to, and risks in people’s health and wellbeing.

Staff felt they received an induction and training that supported them in meeting people's needs effectively and told us they supported by the managers and office staff. Care staff enjoyed working for the service and were given opportunities to discuss the service at regular team meetings.

People knew who the managers of the service were and were able to share their views and opinions about the service they received. People told us they would not hesitate to complain if they had cause to do so.

Overall people were pleased with the service they received. However, improvements were needed to some processes, systems and record keeping to ensure people continued to receive a safe, effective and responsive service and to demonstrate the quality of care provided.