This inspection took place on 20 October 2016 and was announced. Sylviancare is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own home to promote their independence and well-being. At the time of the inspection they provided personal care to 73 people.

The day to day management of the service was carried out by one of the directors of Sylviancare who was the registered manager and a newly appointed manager who was in the process of applying to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

People felt safe and well cared for, they received care and support from familiar and regular staff. There were sufficient staff to provide safe and effective care.

People were involved in planning their care and staff sought consent before they provided support.

People were treated with kindness and dignity and staff spoke about people with respect. Staff supported people to remain as independent as they wished.

Staff had received training in safeguarding people and understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe. They were knowledgeable about what should be reported and felt confident any issues regarding people’s safety were dealt with appropriately by the provider.

Staff received an effective induction and ongoing training. They received support through one to one supervision meetings and annual appraisals. Staff felt they could discuss any issues openly and they received guidance when they needed it.

The provider had a robust recruitment procedure which helped to ensure suitable staff were employed at the service. However, we found one staff recruitment file did not have a full employment history, this was immediately dealt with by the manager.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines when they required them.

The provider sought people’s views on the service in a variety of ways and used this to make improvements to the service. People knew how to raise concerns or make complaints. They felt confident their views were listened to and acted upon.

Staff were provided with information concerning people and changes to their care in a prompt manner. When necessary staff contacted healthcare professionals to seek advice regarding people’s well-being.

The provider had systems to assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. This enabled them to identify areas for improvement.