Background to this inspection
Updated
1 September 2017
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection visit took place on 19, 20 and 26 July 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the service provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone was available to assist us with the inspection. The inspection team consisted of one 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 service.
Before our inspection visit we spoke with seven people who used the service and six relatives by telephone. During our visit we spoke with two people who used the service, a senior service manager, a service manager, two team leaders, two support workers, the registered manager and the regional quality manager. We visited people in their homes and observed the support they were provided with and looked at the records of support kept in people’s homes.
We reviewed a range of records about people’s support. These included the care plans and support records for five people and two people’s medicine administration records (MARs). We reviewed other records relating to the management of the service such as minutes of meetings with staff, the employment records of four members of staff and training records.
Updated
1 September 2017
This inspection was announced and took place on 19, 20 and 26 July 2017. Lifeways Community Care Limited (Nottingham) is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to adults in their own homes. The support people received ranged from short visits to 24 hour care depending on people’s needs. On the day of our inspection 53 people were using the service.
The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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.
People could not be fully assured that the administration of medicines were safe as staff had not always followed policies and procedures and this had not been identified during safety checks in one part of the service.
The risks to people were identified and assessed and people were supported to maintain their nutrition and healthcare.
People were protected from the risk of abuse from staff who were knowledgeable of how to respond if they suspected abuse. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who received support and training to carry out their roles effectively and had been recruited safely.
People were supported to make independent decisions where they were able although documentation to ensure people who were not able to make their own decisions were being supported in their best interests required some improvement.
People were supported by caring and kind staff who respected people’s homes and demonstrated the values of privacy and dignity. People were given support to understand information and express their views.
People received personalised care from staff who were knowledgeable about their needs and preferences. People had support plans in place and were supported to maintain their independence and achieve their goals.
People were encouraged to provide feedback and were involved in the running and development of the service. Staff felt supported by the management team.
Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service which were effective in identifying issues although timely action had not always been taken when improvements were identified.
Immediate action was taken following our feedback by the registered manager to improve systems and clarify expectations with staff.