This inspection took place on the 5 and 6 July 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the people we needed to speak with would be available. This was their first inspection under this registration with the Care Quality Commission since it had been registered in April 2016. It had previously been registered at a different address and the provider was meeting all the regulations that we checked at the last inspection in February 2014.

Soma Healthcare (Central London) is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our visit the service was providing personal care and support to 24 people in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The majority of people using the service were funded by the local authority.

There was a manager in place at the time of our inspection who was in the process of applying to be the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

People using the service and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service and care workers understood how to protect people from abuse. Staff were confident that any concerns would be investigated and dealt with. All staff had received training in safeguarding adults from abuse and had a good understanding of how to identify and report any concerns.

The provider had a medicines policy in place where care workers were only allowed to prompt people’s medicines. Staff had completed basic training in medicines and knew what to do if they had any concerns.

People’s risks were managed and care plans contained appropriate risk assessments which were updated when people’s needs changed. Where necessary, guidance was in place to enable staff to support people safely.

The provider had a robust staff recruitment process and staff underwent the necessary checks to ensure they were suitable to work with people using the service. People had regular care workers to ensure they received consistent levels of care.

A new training programme had just started to be implemented and positive comments were received by staff who had already taken part in some training sessions. Care workers received regular supervision and told us they felt supported and were happy with their input during supervision sessions

Care workers told us they reported any issues or concerns to the care team and we saw evidence of this in people’s care records. We also saw people were supported to maintain their health and well-being through access to health and social care professionals, such as GPs, occupational therapists, district nurses and social services.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Care workers respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they carried out care tasks. The provider was aware of what to do and who to contact if they had concerns that people lacked capacity to make certain decisions.

People and their relatives told us care workers were kind and caring and knew how to provide the care and support they required. People told us that staff respected their privacy and dignity and promoted their independence.

People were involved in planning how they were cared for and supported. An initial assessment was completed from which care plans and risk assessments were developed. Care was personalised to meet people’s individual needs and preferences and was reviewed if there were any significant changes, with health and social care professionals being updated on people’s current conditions.

People using the service and their relatives knew how to make