Radiant Life Care

Updated 31 August 2022

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 was carried out by two inspectors, a medicine 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out of the office, and we wanted to be sure a member of the management team would be available to support us with the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the registered provider, including previous notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the registered provider is required to send to us by law.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We reviewed the action plan the provider sent us. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records and risk assessments and four people's medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, staff training, satisfaction surveys, policies and procedures. We also spoke with the registered manager and quality service manager.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We also looked at four people's electronic call monitoring data. We spoke with five care workers, five people who used the service and six relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided.

Updated 31 August 2022

About the service

Radiant Life provides care and support to people living in a supported living' setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements, the accommodation was provided by a separate landlord. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living. At the time of this inspection, the service was providing personal care to 15 people. The service provides support people who had a learning disability and older people.

The service also provides domiciliary care to people in their own homes. 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

Quality assurance and monitoring systems in place were often not effective. The provider had not always notified CQC of safeguarding concerns.

Risks to people were assessed and monitored. Recruitment processes were robust and there were enough staff working at the service to support people safely. Staff received inductions before starting work, so they knew what to do when they started working with people.

Medicines were managed safely. Staff were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect people from the risk of cross infection.

Care plans were person centred and staff knew how people liked to be cared for and supported. People's communication needs were met. People were supported with their health care needs and staff communicated with each other to ensure people received effective care.

People and relatives told us staff were caring and that they treated people with respect. Staff understood how to support people in a way that promoted their privacy, independence and dignity. The service sought to meet people's needs in relation to equality and diversity.

Systems were in place for dealing with complaints, and complaints had been dealt with accordingly. People and staff told us there was an open and positive culture at the service. People were supported to express their views. The provider was aware of their legal obligations and worked with other agencies to develop best practice and share knowledge.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was inadequate, published 09 November 2021 and there were breaches of Regulations 12 (safe care and treatment), 13 (safeguarding people from of abuse), 9 (person centred care), 11 (need for consent), 18 (staffing), and, 17 (good governance). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection enough improvement had not been made and the provider was still in breach of Regulations 13 and 17.

This service has been in Special Measures since 12 November 2021. This meant we kept the service under review and, we re-inspected the service within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. It is therefore no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection in 03 September 2021. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have continued to identify breaches in relation to safeguarding service users from abuse and good governance at this inspection

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.