This inspection took place on 9 June 2016.

Home Instead Senior Care Coventry provides domiciliary care to people in their own homes. Some people required 24-hour care. At the time of our inspection, 36 people were supported with personal care.

The service had 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The provider promoted the well-being of people, relatives and staff through creative and innovative methods, and also offered support to people in their local community who were caring for relatives. The provider had received national recognition for the service it provided, and worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure it received and acted on best practice.

The provider’s ethos was to promote people’s health, safety, well-being and independence. They ensured people were at the heart of the service, and that care was tailored to people’s individual needs and preferences.

People and relatives told us they felt able to raise any concerns with the registered manager. They felt these would be listened to and responded to effectively and in a timely way. Staff told us the registered manager and senior staff were approachable and responsive to their ideas and suggestions. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the support provided, and the provider regularly sought feedback from people and their relatives with a view to continually improving the service going forwards.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff received training to safeguard people from abuse. They were supported by the provider, who acted on concerns raised and ensured staff followed safeguarding policies and procedures. Staff understood what action they should take in order to protect people from abuse. Risks to people’s safety were identified and staff were aware of current risks, and how they should be managed.

People were administered medicines by staff who were trained and assessed as competent to give medicines safely. Records indicated people’s medicines were given in a timely way and as prescribed. Checks were in place to ensure medicines were managed safely.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs effectively, and people told us they had a consistent and small group of staff who supported them, which they appreciated. The provider conducted pre-employment checks prior to staff starting work, to ensure their suitability to support people who lived in their own homes.

People told us staff asked their consent before undertaking any care tasks. Where people were able to make their own decisions, staff respected their right to do so. Staff and the registered manager had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act.

People and their relatives told us staff were respectful and treated people with dignity, kindness and respect. They told us care staff went above and beyond to ensure they were happy and well. People’s privacy was maintained. People were supported to make choices about their day to day lives. For example, they were supported to maintain any activities, interests and relationships that were important to them.

People saw health professionals when needed and the care and support provided was in line with what they had recommended. People’s care records were written in a way which helped staff to deliver personalised care and gave staff information about people’s communication, their likes, dislikes and preferences. Care plans were updated with the most recent information and were detailed. People were involved in how their care and support was delivered, as were their relatives if people needed and wanted them to be.