Later Life Care Ltd

Later Life is a small domiciliary service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care to 16 people.

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

Governance systems were not sufficiently in place or developed to monitor the care provided. Care records were not reviewed regularly. Risks were not identified, and plans put in place to manage them. There was a lack of detail in care plans about what care should be provided and how this should be given.

The monitoring and managing of medication was not robust to manage the errors being made which could put people at risk of harm.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. We have made a recommendation that the provider considers the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act with regards to decision making and authorisations for others to act on people’s behalf.

Staff understood how to protect people from harm and discrimination. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs and ensure their safety.

When people first started receiving care the service ensured the staff were matched with similar interests and personalities to ensure good relationships were developed. This led to staff knowing people well and providing them with the care and support they needed in the way they preferred.

People who used the service and their relatives were pleased with the standard of care they received, and the support provided. One relative said, “Staff have time to sit and chat over a cup of tea and a game of scrabble. The staff keep me informed as to what is happening. It has been a very stressful time, but we are more relaxed now this company is involved. There is such good communication with the family as well as the care support given.”

Staff received supervision and the support they needed and were very complimentary about the way the service was managed and how good the communication and involvement was from the registered manager.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 April 2021, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service including when the service registered with CQC.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to management of risks to people including medication and governance systems to monitor the service at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.