Livingstone Health Care Services

About the service

Livingstone Health Care Service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 141 people receiving personal care from the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Right Support

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were encouraged to make choices and decisions in relation to the care they received.

Care plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed and involved relatives as appropriate. People’s medicines were managed safely and they were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection.

Right Care

People’s needs were assessed before they began to use the service to ensure the provider could meet those needs. People had personalised care and support plans which included physical and mental health needs. Care plans documented people’s communication, cultural and spiritual needs. Where appropriate, people were supported with activities of their choice.

Relatives confirmed they were included, where appropriate, in decision making about their relative’s care. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet. Staff supported people to maintain their health where appropriate and worked jointly with healthcare professionals to improve outcomes for people.

Right Culture

People, relatives and staff felt the service was well managed. There had been improvements in communication and the provider sought feedback from people and relatives to identify areas for improvement.

Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs. People were protected from abuse and poor care. The provider supported staff with training, supervision and appraisal. Training included learning disability so care could be provided effectively.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 July 2022). and there was a breach of the regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we made recommendations about the handling of complaints and communication. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and people now felt listened to as the provider responded to their concerns.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Livingstone Health Care Service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 55 people receiving personal care from the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The provider did not always deploy enough staff to meet people’s need and people and their relatives told us they were not always told when care visits would be late or missed. People and their relatives did not always know how to complain and did not always feel their concerns were handled well. We found evidence of an instance where concerns about care were not escalated to external professionals appropriately.

There was mixed feedback about the running of the service and people told us there was room for improvement. The provider did not always engage well with people and relatives in order to drive forward care standards.

People’s needs were assessed and they received care tailored to their needs and they told us their permanent care staff were kind and respected their decisions about their care, including end of life care.

People were protected from risk of harm and infection prevention and control measures were in place.

People received their medicines as prescribed and were supported to have access to medical support and to eat and drink enough.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 21 August 2017 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We inspected this service as it had not had an inspection before so that we could give it a rating.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach in relation to staffing at this inspection.

We have made two recommendations about handling complaints and seeking feedback from people who use services.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.