The assessment was carried out remotely between 11 September and 8 October 2025, and we did not visit the office. Aware Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the assessment, 31 people were receiving support with personal care. The Care Quality Commission only inspects services where personal care is provided. This includes assistance with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. People were treated with kindness, compassion, and dignity, and encouraged to remain as independent as possible. Staff had completed safeguarding training, had a good awareness of the different types of abuse, and how to escalate any concerns promptly. Care plans were detailed, person-centred and showed people’s required needs and support. People were offered choice and control of their care and encouraged to engage in activities to improve their health and well-being. Staff were recruited safely and offered a comprehensive induction, which included appropriate training, support, and spot checks to ensure that the team had the right mix of skills to deliver safe care. The provider and staff were committed to providing responsive, personalised care and support. People and relatives were very positive about the provider and the way the service was organised and run. One relative told us, “There is always communication from [registered manager], so we feel involved.
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This focused inspection of Aware Care Limited found the service to be Good in both Safe and Well-led, confirming it had addressed the previous 2019 breaches of regulation. A minor recommendation was made regarding ongoing improvement of training compliance, though no evidence of harm was found.
Concerns (1)
minorStaff training: “Staff training was not always up to date and some newer staff had not completed mandatory online training.”
Aware Care Limited, a small domiciliary care agency supporting 23 people, was rated Requires Improvement overall at its first inspection, with a regulatory breach under Regulation 19 for incomplete recruitment records including missing employment histories and performance references. Care delivery was consistently rated Good, with people and relatives reporting high satisfaction, person-centred care plans, and safe medicines management, but governance and quality assurance systems remained insufficiently embedded.
Concerns (6)
criticalStaffing levels: “Recruitment processes had not met the requirement of the regulation around the safe recruitment of staff.”
criticalRecord keeping: “The registered manager had not kept a full record of periods of employment, showing beginning and end dates, together with an explanation of periods of non-employment.”
moderateGovernance: “Quality assurance processes had not yet been embedded into practice to evidence the quality of the service provided.”
moderateGovernance: “The service was still relatively new...but there was a lack of recorded audits.”
minorStaff competency: “We discussed more formal records of staff competency would provide additional evidence of their competency and directed the registered manager to this information.”
minorSupervision / appraisal: “Staff were supported by regular supervision, although no staff had received an annual appraisal as the agency had not been operating that long.”
Strengths
· People felt completely safe with the care provided and spoke highly of staff.
· Individual and environmental risk assessments were completed and fed into care plans.
· Medicines management systems were organised and people received medicines at the right times.
· New staff received a thorough induction and all achieved the Care Certificate, with a two-week shadowing period.
· Care plans were person-centred, detailed, and included people's life histories, interests, needs and aspirations.
Quality-Statement breakdown (24)
safe: Staffing and recruitmentRequires improvement
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolationGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsRequires improvement
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careRequires improvement
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood