Homeease Care Solutions Limited

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides a respite service to families who have children with complex needs in their own homes in Oxfordshire. On the day of our inspection the service was supporting seven children. This was the services first inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Parents told us children benefitted from caring relationships with the staff. There were sufficient staff to meet children's needs. The service had safe, robust recruitment processes.

Parents were involved in creating children's' support plans. Clinical support guidance and specialist training was provided by Oxford NHS Trust. Parents told us the service was reliable and we saw there were no missed visits recorded.

Children were safe. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children. Staff had received regular training to make sure they stayed up to date with recognising and reporting safety concerns. The service had systems in place to notify the appropriate authorities where concerns were identified. Children had sufficient amounts to eat and drink and received support with meeting their nutritional and hydration needs where needed.

Where risks to children had been identified, risk assessments were in place and action had been taken to manage the risks. Children were assessed prior to staff supporting them and received care from staff who were knowledgeable about their needs and how best to support them. Most medicines were administered by their parents. However, where staff administered medicine children received their medicines safely as prescribed.

Parents told us they were confident they would be listened to and action would be taken if they raised a concern. We saw a complaints policy and procedure was in place. The service had systems to assess the quality of the service provided. Learning was identified and action taken to make improvements which improved children's' safety and quality of life. Systems were in place that ensured children were protected against the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care.

Staff spoke positively about the support they received from the registered manager. Staff meetings were scheduled as were annual appraisals. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and there was a good level of communication within the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found