This inspection took place on 19 and 20 February 2018 and was announced.

Superior Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.

Superior Homecare Limited provides care and support to people who wish to remain in their own homes. Services include personal care, meal preparation, hospital discharge and medication support. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people receiving personal care.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The service had a 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe. Staff had been provided with safeguarding training to enable them to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report them. There were risk management plans in place to protect and promote people’s safety. Staffing numbers were appropriate to keep people safe. There were safe recruitment practices in place and these were being followed to ensure staff who were employed were suitable for their role. People’s medicines were managed safely and in line with best practice guidelines.

Systems were in place to ensure that people were protected by the prevention and control of infection. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service

People’s needs and choices were assessed and their care provided in line with best practice that met their diverse needs. Staff received an induction process when they first commenced work at the service. They also received on-going training to ensure they were able to provide care based on current practice when supporting people.

People received enough to eat and drink and staff gave support when required. People were supported to use and access a wide variety of other services and social care professionals. The staff had a good knowledge of other services available to people and we saw these had been involved with supporting people using the service. People were supported to access health appointments when required, including opticians and doctors, to make sure they received continuing healthcare to meet their needs.

Staff demonstrated their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and they gained people's consent before providing personal care.

Staff provided care and support in a caring and meaningful way. People were given choices about their day-to-day routines and about how they wanted their care to be delivered. People’s privacy and dignity was maintained at all times.

People were listened to, their views were acknowledged and acted upon and care and support was delivered in the way that people chose and preferred. Records showed that people and their relatives were involved in the care planning process. There was a complaints procedure in place to enable people to raise complaints about the service.

People, relatives and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the service and it was used to drive improvement. Staff felt well-supported and received one to one supervision that gave them an opportunity to share ideas, and exchange information. The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report

The inspection was announced and took place on the 4, 5, and 10 February 2016.

Superior Homecare Services provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 20 people. The frequency of visits ranged from one to four visits daily depending on people’s individual needs.

The service has 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff had been provided with safeguarding training to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm.

There were risk management plans in place to protect and promote people’s safety.

Staffing numbers were appropriate to keep people safe. There were safe recruitment practices followed to ensure staff were suitable to work with people.

People’s medicines were managed safely, in line with best practice guidelines; and staff had been provided with training in the safe handling of medicines.

People were matched with staff who were aware of their care needs; and staff received the appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their roles and responsibilities.

People’s consent was sought in line with current legislation and guidance. The service worked in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People were supported by staff to have a balanced diet. If needed, staff supported people to access healthcare services.

People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff. They had established positive and caring relationships with them.

People were able to express their views and to be involved in making decisions in relation to their care and support needs.

Staff ensured that people’s privacy and dignity were promoted.

People received care that met their assessed needs. Their care plans were updated on a regular basis, or as and when their care needs changed.

A copy of the service’s complaints procedure was issued to people when they started to receive care. This ensured that people would be aware of how to raise a complaint if the need arose.

The culture at the service was open and inclusive. The registered manager led by example, which inspired staff to deliver a quality service.

There were quality monitoring systems in place. These were used to good effect and to drive continuous improvements.