Lakeland Care and Support Services Limited provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the Furness and Copeland areas of Cumbria. The service also provides personal care and support to people living at Station View, an extra care housing scheme in Barrow-in-Furness. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

At our last inspection we rated the service as good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People told us this was a good service and said they would recommend it.

People were safe and protected against abuse and avoidable harm. There were enough staff to provide the support people needed. People received care from a small team of staff who they knew. Safe systems were used when new staff were recruited to ensure they were suitable to work in people’s homes.

People received the support they needed to take their medicines safely. The staff identified if people were unwell and supported them to contact their doctors if they needed.

Care staff received appropriate training and support to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to provide people’s care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were asked for their consent before care was provided and the decisions they made were respected.

People were treated in a kind and caring way. People told us the staff were polite, caring and helpful.

People had been included in planning and agreeing to the care they required. Each person had a care plan to guide staff on the support they needed and how they wanted this to be provided. A member of the service management team reviewed the care plans regularly to check they were up to date and continued to be appropriate to ensure people received the support they required.

The provider had a procedure for receiving and responding to concerns about the service. Where people had raised concerns the management team in the service took action to resolve the issue raised and to further improve the service provided.

The agency worked with other appropriate services to support people who were reaching the end of their lives.

There were arrangements in place to ensure the effective management of the service. The registered manager was supported by a senior management team and local area coordinators. People who used the service knew how they could contact a member of the management team if they needed.

The provider had systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service. People were asked for their views and action was taken in response to their feedback.

The management team in the service worked in partnership with key organisations such as the local authority to ensure people received the support they required.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We carried out this announced inspection on 15 May 2015. We last inspected this service on 12 October 2012. At that inspection we found that the provider was meeting all of the regulations that we assessed.

The service moved to a new address in November 2013. This meant the provider had to apply to change their registration with us. We carried out an assessment of the service as part of the registration application and found that the service was likely to be safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Lakeland Care and Support Services Limited, (Lakeland Care), provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service is managed from offices approximately one mile from Ulverston in South Cumbria. The agency primarily provides support to people living in the South Lakes and Furness areas of Cumbria.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. 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.

People received a high quality of care that met their needs and enhanced their quality of life. They were placed at the centre of their care and made choices about the support they received. Care staff were kind and caring while supporting people and treated them and their homes with respect. People were supported to carry out tasks for themselves and to maintain their independence. They were supported to remain in their homes and valued the care they received.

People were safe receiving care from this service. Staff were trained to give them the skills and knowledge to deliver care safely and to a high standard. Care staff knew how to identify and report concerns about a person’s safety. This helped to protect people from the risk of abuse.

The registered manager used good systems to share information with people to help them to stay safe in their homes.

The service was well managed. New staff were checked to make sure they were safe and suitable to work in people’s homes. People were asked for their views of the care they received and their experiences were used to improve the quality of the service. The registered manager used thorough systems to assess the quality of the service. Where an aspect of the delivery of the service required improving, this was identified and action was taken.