Enlightenment Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults, people with mental health needs and learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection, this service supported 25 people with a range of social care needs.

At the last inspection in January 2017, this service was rated overall as requires improvement. At this inspection, we found that improvements had been made and the service was rated overall good.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

Systems and processes in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service required strengthening to ensure they were embedded and effective.

People told us they felt safe with the staff team who provided their care and support. Relatives we spoke with agreed that their relatives were safe with the staff team who supported them.

Training on the safeguarding of adults had been completed and the staff team were aware of their responsibilities for keeping people safe from avoidable harm. The registered manager and management team understood their responsibilities for keeping people safe and knew to refer any concerns on to the local authority and CQC.

People's support needs had been identified and risks associated with people's care had been assessed and monitored. There were arrangements in place to make sure action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service.

Staff recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service. Adequate staffing levels were in place.

Staff induction training and on-going training was provided to ensure that staff had the skills, knowledge and support they needed to perform their roles. Staff were well supported by the senior management team and had regular one to one supervisions.

People were protected by the prevention and control of infection. The staff team had received training in infection control and understood their responsibilities around this.

The staff team were trained in medicines and were able to administer medicines if prescribed. The service worked with other organisations to ensure that people received coordinated and person-centred care and support.

Staff demonstrated their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and they gained people's consent before providing support.

People were involved in planning how their support would be provided and staff took time to understand people’s needs and preferences. Care documentation provided staff with appropriate guidance regarding the care and support people needed to maintain their independence. Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes.

People, relatives and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the service and it was used to drive continuous improvement. People knew what to do if they had a concern, complaints were investigated, and lessons learnt to reduce future concerns.

The service notified the CQC of certain events and incidents, as required.

This inspection took place on the 24 and 25 January 2017 and was announced. Enlightenment Care Services is a personal care service that supports people with a range of personal care needs living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection ten people were receiving care and support.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 no systems in place for monitoring the quality of the service. The lack of oversight from the provider who is also the registered manager culminated in lack of supervision for staff and poorly maintained records relating to the operational management of the service.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed. People were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare services when needed.

People had care plans that were personalised to their individual needs and wishes. Care plans reflected the support people required and care staff delivered care and support according to people’s preferences.

People received care from staff that were kind, caring and passionate about providing the care and support people wanted to enable them to stay in their own homes. Staff had the skills and knowledge to provide the care and support people needed. People told us that they felt safe in their own home and we observed people to be happy and relaxed around the staff that supported them.

Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. Staff understood their role in caring for people with limited or no capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Documents relating to the MCA had not always been formalised.

Staffing levels ensured that people received the support they required safely and at the times they needed. The recruitment practice protected people from being cared for by staff that were unsuitable to work in their home.

Staff had good relationships with the people they supported. Complaints were appropriately investigated and action was taken to make improvements to the service when this was found to be necessary.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.