Lantern Care Services

This was Lantern Care Services' first inspection since becoming registered.

Lantern Care Services is a registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide 'personal care' to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to people of different ages with a variety of care needs. The office base is located in Crewe, Cheshire.

At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 16 people. However, only ten people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care. Our inspection was based on the care of those ten people only.

A registered manager was 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.

Medication systems and processes were not always safely managed. The majority of medication records indicated that people had been supported to take medication as prescribed. However, one set of records were incomplete and contained inconsistencies regarding a change in medicine. We made a recommendation regarding this.

Staff were not always recruited safely in accordance with requirements. Four of the five recruitment records that we checked did not have a complete employment history. We made a recommendation regarding this.

People were protected from the risk of abuse or neglect because effective safeguarding procedures were in place. Staff had completed training in adult safeguarding and understood their responsibility to report any concerns.

We saw evidence in care records that risk was assessed at an early stage and appropriate plans put in place to minimise any potential harm. However, risk assessments were not always dated so it was not clear from records how often risk was reviewed.

The service had a system in place to records accidents and incidents. The records that we saw contained information regarding; the date, time, location and description of incidents to aid analysis.

Staff were supported to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies by completing induction and developmental training. Induction for new staff was completed in accordance with the principles of the Care

Certificate. Staff spoke positively about the support that they received from senior managers in the form of informal and formal supervision.

Staff worked effectively with other organisations and in particular healthcare services to ensure that people's needs were met. We saw good evidence of joint-working with commissioners, families and healthcare professionals that resulted in improved health and wellbeing for people receiving care.

The service was delivered in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We saw examples of capacity being considered in relation to a range of decisions including; receiving care and the administration of medicines.

The people that we spoke with were extremely positive about the quality of care they received and the caring nature of the managers and staff. Positive, professional relationships with people receiving care were promoted at every level. The registered manager and other senior staff regularly completed shifts as a carer to help maintain these relationships and monitor the quality of care provided.

People's needs in relation to equality and diversity were considered as part of the assessment and care planning process. People's care records contained a good level of personal detail that helped staff to get to know people and their needs well.

Lantern Care Services had a detailed complaints procedure which was accessible to people using the service. The majority of the people that we spoke with knew who to contact if they needed to make a complaint. However, there had been no complaints in the previous 12 months.

People spoke positively about the management of the service and the quality of communication. The systems for monitoring safety and quality were adequate for the size of the service and had proven effective in identifying areas for improvement.

The service had a record of working effectively with the local authority and healthcare professionals to develop packages of care. In response to a request for information prior to this inspection, the local authority raised no concerns.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found