Background to this inspection
Updated
13 November 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency and supported living provider. It provides personal care to people
living in their own houses and flats, so that they can live as independently as possible. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We inspected the service on 22 July 2019. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 22nd July 2019 and ended on 24 July 2019. We visited the office location on 22nd July 2019 to see the manager, office staff and speak with people; and to review care records and policies and procedures. Following our visit to the office we made phone calls to relatives and health and social care professionals to gain their views of the service.
What we did before the inspection
We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed notifications sent to CQC about important events at the service and information sent to us from other stakeholders for example the local authority and members of the public.
What we did during the inspection
We spoke with five people who used them and seven of their relatives, the registered manager and six members of support staff. We pathway tracked the care of three people. Pathway tracking is where we check that the care detailed in individual plans matches the experience of the person receiving care. We reviewed records including accident and incident logs, quality assurance records, compliments and complaints, policies and procedures and three staff recruitment records.
What we did after the inspection
We spoke with two health and social care professionals to gain their views of the service people received and have incorporated this feedback into this report. We also contacted seven relatives of people who were unable to provide their views of the service to gain their views about the care received.
Updated
13 November 2019
About the service
Getta Life Limited provides care and support to people living in their own home or their family home. People using the service include people living with a learning disability, autism and/or physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection, there were 27 people being supported by the service.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
Following the last inspection, the provider, registered manager, management team and staff had worked
continuously to provide people with outstanding care and support. They understood that maintaining this high level of care required dedication and commitment, and we saw this across the whole staff team. Staff were focussed on continually developing areas of the service with person centred support at the heart of these improvements. Staff were dedicated to supporting people to improve their independence, access to activities that met their interests and being active in the local community. The management team continued to develop their extensive knowledge of supporting people living with a learning disability and upskilling their staff team. This meant that people received high-quality care from staff who truly understood their needs.
The management and leadership of the service were exceptional. The registered manager and management team had an excellent understanding of the provision of care and support for people living with a learning disability. They had continued to actively seek education opportunities for themselves and their staff to build on their detailed knowledge. This meant people received care and support in line with current best practice. Managers and staff had an exceptional knowledge of people’s needs and health and social care professionals gave us extremely positive feedback about the service.
The registered manager was committed to continuous learning and fostered a supportive and enabling culture for both people and staff. People, their relatives and staff were highly complementary about the management of the service.
People received a truly person-centred service which promoted excellent outcomes for them. This included supporting their independence and control over their own lives. Following the last inspection, the management team focussed on further developing people's independence to enhance their quality of life.
The management and staff team continued to foster a caring and compassionate culture which put people at the centre of their care. People were supported to follow their interests and staff supported them to overcome any barriers to make the most of new opportunities. Staff really cared for people they supported and were invested in maintaining and promoting their wellbeing.
Staff had an in-depth knowledge of the people they supported and worked with them daily to improve their quality of life. Activities were led by people's choices and were reflective of their social, cultural and wellbeing needs. Staff really focussed on people's interests to enable them to have new experiences. People were supported to be active in their local communities and develop new skills to broaden their horizons. 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's nutritional and healthcare needs were met in a timely way. Staff received a range of training opportunities that were specifically designed to enable them to effectively support people using the service.
People were safe and risks to people were identified, assessed and managed safely with an enabling and empowering focus so no one was restricted. Staff supported people to take positive risks and were flexible in their approach. There were enough staff to meet people's needs safely and recruitment processes were robust with people included so they had a say about who might be employed to support them. Medicines were managed and administered safely, by trained and competent staff who supported people to have as much control as possible.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Rating at the last inspection
The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 29 November 2016).
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.