This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults of all ages, including people with dementia or physical disabilities.

This was the first inspection of this service, which took place on 7 June 2018 and was announced. Not everyone using the service receives a regulated activity. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care, which is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the start of our inspection there were 11 people using the service in this respect.

The service had a registered manager which 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.

At this inspection, there was positive feedback from people using the service, relatives and a community care professional. Everyone recommended the service.

The service had enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were introduced to people at the start of a care package, and people consistently received the same team of staff.

The service and its staff treated people with kindness, respect and compassion, and gave emotional support when needed. People's privacy and dignity were respected and promoted.

People's needs were comprehensively assessed to help ensure their specific needs were identified and addressed. The registered manager demonstrated good knowledge of the wider community resources available in support of this. This meant the service worked well in co-operation with other organisations such as healthcare services to deliver effective care and support.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People’s views on the service were regularly sought and acted on, particularly through regular visits from managers who were also checking how well the service was meeting people’s needs.

People’s individual needs were met through the way the service was organised and delivered. This included helping some people regain skills and independence, and for providing compassionate and responsive end-of-life care to others.

The service took steps to assess and manage safety risks to people, and to protect them from abuse. Where part of the agreed care package, it also supported people to eat and drink enough and to take prescribed medicines.

The service listened and responded to people’s concerns and preferences, and used this to improve the quality of care.

The service promoted a positive and inclusive culture in support of achieving good outcomes for people. Staff reported being well-supported overall.

Systems at the service enabled sustainability and growth, and supported continuous learning and improvement.

We have made one recommendation in respect of staff recruitment practices. This was because we found concerns relating to how thorough the service’s checks of staff members’ Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) disclosures were. These disclosures are checks of police records and a list of people legally recorded as unsafe to provide care to adults. The provider sent us supporting evidence shortly after our visit, to show they were taking robust actions to address these concerns This would prevent a reoccurrence of the same issues. The recommendation will help the provider to sustain appropriate standards.