YourLife (Gosforth)

Updated 17 April 2020

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

The inspection was carried out by 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 care service.

Service and service type

This service provides care to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care service.

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

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 3 March 2020 and ended on 5 March 2020. We visited the office location on 3 March 2020.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority 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 the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, duty manager and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed various records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 17 April 2020

About the service

YourLife (Gosforth) is a care service which provides personal care to people living in their own apartments in Kenton Lodge. There were 12 people receiving personal care at the time of this inspection.

Not everyone who lived at Kenton Lodge 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

People praised the staff for their care and kindness. Staff were friendly and engaging. People got on well with all of the staff and staff knew how to support each person in the way they preferred. The service was run in the best interests of the people who used it.

Staff made sure people were treated with dignity and respect, and their privacy was protected. People were fully involved in the arrangements about their care and their decisions were respected. Staff had good working relationships with other care agencies for the benefit of the people who used the service.

The service was safe. Risks to people’s health and safety were managed without compromising their independence. If people needed assistance with their medicines, this was managed in a safe way.

There were enough staff to make sure people received care and support when they needed it. Staff were trained and supported to carry out their job safely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.

People said the service was well-run and praised the management style as friendly, helpful and efficient. They were asked for their views in person and in surveys. They had information about how to raise issues and were confident about discussing anything with the management team.

Staff said the management team were open and approachable. They were happy in their roles and said the registered manager was encouraging and supportive.

The provider and registered manager were committed to continuous improvement of the service.

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 29 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.