This inspection was announced and took place on 29 March 2017.

72 hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is small and the provider is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Lily Caring Angels Limited provided personal care to people living in their own homes. This included providing care to people at the end of their lives. At the time of the inspection the agency was providing personal care to two people and employed two members of staff. They also assisted some people with domestic tasks which is not regulated by the care Quality Commission. The majority of care was carried out by the registered manager and the director of the company.

This is the first inspection of the service since it was registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2015.

There is 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.

The registered manager was well qualified and had the experience needed to carry out their role. Relatives told us they found them open and approachable. Relatives we spoke with all said they were very happy with the care provided by the agency and would recommend the service.

The registered manager carried out an initial assessment of people wishing to use the service to make sure they were able to meet their needs and expectations. All care was provided by a very small team of care staff which enabled people to build trusting relationships. Relatives told us how much they valued this.

Each person had a care plan which gave details of the care people required at each visit. People were involved in identifying their care needs and the service was able to respond to changes in people’s needs or wishes.

Relatives told us they felt people were safe with the staff who visited and said they were respectful of them and their homes. Personal care was provided in a professional manner and people’s dignity was respected.

The staff were extremely caring and went over and above their job role to maintain people’s safety and comfort. This had included responding to a relative in the middle of the night.

The staff monitored people’s health and well-being and supported them to access health and social care services when necessary. They made sure people had the equipment they required to safely receive care and support.