This inspection was unannounced and took place on 1 and 2 March 2017. This was the first inspection of this service.

The Brothers of Charity Services – Greater Manchester Services provides support to people in their own homes who needed additional support due to learning difficulties, physical disability, mental health needs, drug and alcohol addiction and hoarding. In the Stockport area, six people who had autism or Asperger’s syndrome were supported by the service but not with personal care.

At the time of our inspection, the service was supporting 52 people and of that number 18 people with personal care in the Bury area and one person in Rochdale.

A registered manager for the service was present during our inspection. ‘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 told us they felt safe using the service. Staff were clear about their reporting responsibilities in relation to any safeguarding or and the poor practice of colleagues.

Staff had been safely recruited. Although there had been a high turnover of staff at the service, there was now a stable staff team in place. There were enough staff to meet people’s assessed support needs in a reliable, consistent and flexible way. Systems were in place to help ensure the safe handling of medicines and to reduce the risk of cross infection in the service.

People who used the service had the capacity to make decisions about what they did and the choices they made.

People were supported to shop for and prepare food and to attend healthcare appointments as needed.

We received very positive feedback from the people we visited about the flexible and personalised support they received from staff.

People told us that they got on with their support workers and were well matched. Staff spoken with knew people well

People told us there independence and social inclusion was promoted.

Written information about people was positively written. Information was seen to be in easy read formats, for example, complaints and compliments, the statement of purpose and the welcome book.

The registered manager had made improvements at the service in relation, to strengthening the day-to-day operations. This included the recruitment of staff with the right skills, knowledge and personal qualities and also to the planning of people’s support and the development of new support plans. This had been done to enable the service to expand effectively and safely.

Improvement plans were in place for the future, which included the purchase of a new property, the introduction of a new electronic rostering system and face-to-face training for staff.

We received positive feedback from the staff we spoke with about the registered manager and the management team who were said to be approachable and supportive. Management staff said they thought that Brothers of Charity was a supportive organisation with clear values.