About the service: Stone House Care and Medical Limited is registered as a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity 'personal care' to people who live in their own homes. At the time of the inspection visit there were eight people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People who used the service and relatives told us they felt safe and staff treated them with respect. The provider had safeguarding procedures and staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people from abuse. Risks related to people's lives had been assessed so staff had guidance in providing safe care to meet people’s individual needs. People were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection.

There were enough numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs. The service followed appropriate recruitment procedures to assure themselves prospective staff were suitable to work with people who used the service. People were supported with their medicines safely and to eat and drink where this was required in accordance with their care plan.

People’s needs were assessed prior to them using the service. The provider had arrangements for new staff to receive induction training. There was ongoing training for all staff. Staff were supported in various ways including regular one to one meetings with the deputy manager to ensure they could provide care effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the arrangements in place supported this practice.

Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes. Care plans reflected people's likes and dislikes and personal preferences. People and/or their relatives had discussed their care needs with staff and were involved in the care planning process.

People were aware of how they could raise a complaint or concern if they needed to and had access to a complaint’s procedure.

The management team and provider used systems to monitor the quality of the service, which included responding to feedback from people in relation to the standard of care. The management team showed a responsive approach to making ongoing improvements following visits from commissioners.

Rating at last inspection: This is the provider’s first inspection at their new location.

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return, as part of the 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