Getta Life Limited

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.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 service provides support for 22 people living in their own homes who have physical or learning disabilities . Some of the people supported by the service chose to live together whereas others chose to live on their own.

People were always at the heart of the service and support was provided in line with research based best practice. The provider’s philosophy, vision and values were understood and shared across the staff team. People’s right to lead a fulfilling life was promoted and encouraged by all staff, at all times.

Staff received training in the provider’s values and philosophy, which included listening skills. The provider and management team exemplified the philosophy in their interactions with people, which set the standard for staff to follow.

People and relatives were delighted with the kindness and thoughtfulness of staff, which exceeded their expectations of how they would be cared for and supported. People felt valued by care staff, which empowered them to speak freely and confidently about how they wanted to live their lives and the support they would like from staff. Care staff respected people’s individuality and encouraged them to live the lives they wanted.

People were encouraged and supported to live with meaning and purpose every day. Care staff valued people’s experience and opinions and encouraged them to take pride in their lifetime’s achievements.

People were involved in planning their care with the support of people important to them. This ensured the support they received matched their individual needs, abilities and preferences, from their personal perspective. Care staff showed insight and understanding in caring for people, because they understood people’s individual motivations and responses. Staff were attentive to how people were feeling and were proactive in implementing individual strategies to promote enjoyment and happiness. Staff ensured people obtained advice and support from healthcare professionals to minimise the risks of poor health.

Staff took time to understand people’s life stories and supported and encouraged people to celebrate important personal and national events. People were supported maintain their personal interests and hobbies.

People who used the service, their relatives and healthcare professionals were encouraged to share their opinions and the provider used their views to continually improve the service.

The provider was innovative and creative and constantly strived to improve the quality of people’s lives, by working in partnership with experts in supporting people with disabilities. Planned improvements were focused on improving people’s quality of life.

All staff and people who used the service were involved in monitoring the quality of the service, which included regular checks of people’s care plans, medicine administration and staff practices. Accidents, incidents, falls and complaints were investigated and action was taken to minimise the risks of a re-occurrence.

There were enough staff, who worked flexibly in order to meet people’s physical and social needs. The registered manager checked staff’s suitability to deliver personal care during the recruitment process. The premises and equipment were regularly checked to ensure risks to people’s safety were minimised. People’s medicines were managed, stored and administered safely.

Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from harm and were encouraged and supported to raise any concerns. Staff understood the risks to people’s individual health and wellbeing, which were clearly recorded in people’s care plans.

Staff received a wide range of training that matched people’s needs effectively. Staff were encouraged to reflect on their practice and to develop their skills and knowledge, which improved people’s experience of care.

The registered manager understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). For people who were assessed as not having capacity, records showed that their advocates or families and healthcare professionals were involved in making decisions in their best interests.

Risks to people’s nutrition were minimised because people were offered meals that were suitable for their individual dietary needs and met their preferences. People were supported to eat a nutritious diet and have enough to drink according to their needs.

We visited the office and spoke with the manager and three support workers. Prior to our office visit we spoke with three other support workers by phone. People who used the service were unable to speak to us directly. We were able to speak with six relatives by phone to find out their experience of using Getta Life.

Relatives we spoke with said they were fully involved in their relatives care. People who used the service were unable to make formal decisions about their care and support due to their learning disability. Records showed support workers, family members or advocates acted on people's behalf when required.

During our office visit we watched a short film about two people who were supported by the service. The content of the film demonstrated staff knew and understood the people they supported extremely well. The film clearly showed how staff supported people to live their lives as they had chosen.

The care plans we looked at provided staff with detailed information about the care and support people required. People had person centred plans completed that identified their skills and abilities as well as areas where support was required. Risks associated with people's care had been assessed and were appropriately managed. These procedures made sure people received appropriate care and remained safe and well.

We looked at how medication was being managed in the service. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of how to manage medicines safely. We found support workers had received training in administering medication and people received their medication as prescribed.

Staff and relatives told us people were allocated small teams of regular workers. Relatives told us all staff were friendly and polite. We were satisfied support workers had been recruited safely and had the necessary skills and experience to work with people using the service.

Records showed the agency had systems in place to monitor the care provided. Everyone we spoke with told us they were happy with the care their relative received. People said,

'The service X receives from Getta Life is absolutely wonderful. The things X now does is amazing from sailing a dinghy to visiting local pubs and restaurants. She has a better social life than I do.'

'One word; excellent.'

'It's an amazing service. Things are going wonderfully for X. It would be good to think everyone in her situation were so well looked after.'

Relatives told us they had been involved in the planning of people's care. One relative said 'I am fully involved in X's care. We have a monthly circle meeting and if there are any changes they always let me know'. Relative's told us there was a small team of care staff that worked with people. One relative told us, 'It is extremely important for X to have workers who know her well. Staff can identify the signs and what triggers certain behaviours so are able to diffuse any potential situation before it escalates. This has made a big difference to X's lifestyle. She is able to go places and do things that were restricted before'.

Staff knew how to keep people safe and what to do if they had any concerns. Relatives we spoke with referred to having an 'open and honest' relationship with the agency. People told us they had no problems expressing their views and opinions about the service with the managers.