Lantern Care Services is a small domiciliary care provider based in Alford, Surrey.

People who receive a service in their own homes include those living with physical frailty or memory loss due to the progression of age or illness. The agency also provides services to people living with dementia and people with mental health needs. At the time of our inspection 11 people received care and support in accordance with the regulated activity of personal care.

The inspection took place on 06 July 2017. The provider was given forty eight hours’ notice of the inspection.

The provider was the manager, and as such a registered manager was not required. 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 had a clear vision about providing a high quality and caring service. He was achieving this by having a clear plan to keep the service small so they could really focus on giving individualised care and support in a way people wanted it. The service was also focussed on a geographical area and only took on care packages, and recruited staff from this area. The feedback we received during the inspection showed that this vision had been achieved, and the service was well led.

Staff had a positive and caring attitude about their jobs. People told us that they were happy with the care and support they received. A relative said, “They do everything really well, they are always on time and their attitude to their job is excellent.” All the staff we spoke with were extremely happy in their work and proud of the job they do.

People received a safe service from the Lantern Care Services. There were sufficient numbers of staff who were appropriately trained to meet the needs of the people who used the service. Staff understood their duty should they suspect abuse was taking place, including the agencies that needed to be notified, such as the local authority safeguarding board or the police.

Staff recruitment procedures were safe. The provider had undertaken appropriate safety checks to ensure that only suitable staff were employed to support people in their own home. Staff said they felt supported to undertake their roles. Staff received a comprehensive induction and ongoing training, tailored to the needs of the people they supported.

Staff managed the medicines in a safe way and were trained in the safe administration of medicines.

Where people did not have the capacity to understand or consent to a decision the provider had followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). Staff understood that they had to gain people’s consent before they provided care, and that they could not make decisions for people.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink. They received support from staff where a need had been identified.

People were supported to maintain good health. When people’s health deteriorated staff responded quickly and made sure they contacted the appropriate professionals to ensure people received effective treatment.

People told us that the staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect. The staff knew the people they cared for as individuals, and had a good rapport with relatives. People described staff as being like ‘friends’ and how they came to feel like part of the family.

People received the care and support as detailed in their care plans. Care plans were based around the individual preferences of people as well as their medical, psychological and emotional needs. They gave a good level of detail for staff to reference if they needed to know what support was required.

People knew how to make a complaint. No complaints had been received since the service registered with the C