About the service: White Star Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency and registered for ‘personal care’. This service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of this inspection five people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

• The provider did not have robust systems in place to monitor the quality of the services provided for people, including accuracy of care records. We made a recommendation about this.

• Risks to people's health and safety were identified but required additional information on how the risks impacted on people.

• People had care plans in place that included information on how they wanted to be supported but more information was required to guide staff on the assistance people required to take their medicines safely.

• The service planned to make changes as to how they trained staff to ensure they were provided with the Mental Capacity Act (2005) training and enough time to understand the covered topics.

• Staff received on-going support and the registered manager planned to review staff’s developmental needs.

• Staff followed the provider’s procedures to support people if they noticed them being at risk of harm or when incidents and accidents took place.

• Staff undertook appropriate checks before they were employed by the service.

• People told us that staff arrived for their shifts on time and that they had regular staff members to support them.

• People had the necessary support to manage their medicines safely.

• Staff supported people to prepare their meals and attend to their health needs where they required such assistance.

• People were treated with dignity, kindness and had their views listened to.

• Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and to make choices about their daily activities.

• People provided feedback about the services they received.

• People felt that the management team responded to their care needs well.

• Staff were involved in making decisions about the service delivery.

• Appropriate systems were used to communicate and share information quickly as necessary.

Rating at last inspection:

• The service was previously inspected on 31 July 2018. We were unable to rate the service as there was not enough evidence available to support our judgement.

Why we inspected:

• This was the first inspection of the service after they changed the name from Visiting Angels Limited - DCA Office to White Star Care Ltd.

• This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspection will be planned in line with our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect the service sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Visiting Angels Limited - DCA Office is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service supports older people some of whom have physical disabilities and are living with dementia. At the time of inspection two adults were receiving support with personal care from this service.

This inspection took place on 31 July 2018 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the registered manager is often out of the office supporting people. We needed to be sure that someone would be in.

This service has not previously been inspected.

The service had a registered manager in port. 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.

Care plans were not always reflective of people's individual care needs. We made a recommendation about this.

The service had systems in place to support people if a potential harm and abuse was reported to them. Processes were followed to collect information on how to avoid or limit risks to people. Staff were recruited safety which ensured that people had the necessary support. Systems were in place for recording and monitoring incidents and accidents occurring.

Staff used an electronic system to share information effectively. The service monitored people’s ability to make decisions for themselves and provided support to people if they were unable to do that themselves as required by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff were required to complete a comprehensive training course to have an up-to-date knowledge and skills for the job. The registered manager was looking to arrange the follow-up training courses after staff completed their induction and to carry out the regular supervision and appraisal meetings to support staff in their role.

Staff were friendly, kind and attended to people with patience when assisting them with personal care. People had their preferences identified and respected. People’s personal information was protected and only shared with their consent.

People’s care needs were assessed to provide staff with guidance on the support people required to stay safe. People were given information on how to raise concerns and complaints and felt confident to approach the registered manager for making changes to their care if necessary.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities and led the team effectively. Staff had support and guidance when they needed it. Quality assurance systems were in place but the audits were not completed because the service had only started supporting people recently.