Lincoln Healthcare Group Limited

Updated 8 July 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

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 the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 11 April 2023 and ended on 21 April 2023. We visited the location’s office on 21 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We reviewed information we received from the local authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 2 relatives to gather feedback on the care and safety of the service.

We spoke to staff, including the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records, multiple medication records and maintenance and safety certificates. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including 3 staff recruitment records and quality assurance procedures.

Updated 8 July 2023

About the service

Lincoln Healthcare Group Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to people living with a range of conditions including dementia, learning disabilities and autism. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people using 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 using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right support

Staff focused on people's strengths, staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in the local area. People were supported to maintain a safe and clean environment that met their sensory and physical needs. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making.

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.

Right care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People received care that supported their needs and aspirations, was focused on their quality of life, and followed best practice. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe.

People were happy and content. They received person-centred care where they were at the heart and focus of the support provided to achieve positive outcomes.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right culture

People were empowered because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management team and staff. People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. Staff placed people's wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 1 December 2017) and we made recommendations around medication procedures and records. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

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

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lincoln Healthcare Group Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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