Your Life Care Solutions

Updated 1 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

We gave the service 24 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 22 January 2020 and ended on 12 February 2020 when we gave feedback to the provider. We visited the office location on 22 and 23 January 2020. We visited people using the service on 24 January 2020 where we were able to observe interactions with staff. During the period leading up to feedback, we contacted a sample of relatives and professionals to hear their views of the service.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 met seven people who used the service and spoke with five people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, registered manager, service manager, house co-ordinator, support workers, and human resource officer. We visited two supported living sites and two individual flats. We used general observation whilst visiting, and meeting people to observe their interaction with staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included records relating to four people’s care and support. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training, complaints, compliments, health and safety audits, safeguarding investigations, minutes of meetings and survey feedback.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from two of the healthcare professionals we had contacted about their overall views of the care and support being delivered at the service.

Updated 1 April 2020

About the service

Your Life Care Solutions is a supported living service which provides personal care to people in their own homes. The service comprises of a mixture of single and shared accommodation in the Colchester area. The largest property being a six-bedroom country house, which also included an office and training room for staff.

The age group of the 18 people using the service, ranged between 18 – 29 years at the time of the inspection.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Relatives told us they would recommend the service to others, one told us they would, “Most definitely,” recommend the service, “I am really pleased and its really well run…very good at communicating... very good with all the service users, running really well.”

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

People were supported by staff who knew their needs well and had received training and understood how to report abuse. The provider took learning from any safeguarding incidents, to reduce the risk of it happening again. There were safe systems in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

There were suitable numbers of staff who had been recruited safely to meet people’s contracted hours. The provider had assessed the risk to people associated with their care and support, including risks associated with their health and environment. Staff were knowledgeable about these risks and knew what to do to minimise risk, whilst promoting independence.

New staff received a comprehensive induction, which included getting to know the needs of the people they would be supporting. Systems were in place to ensure staff received ongoing training to keep their skills updated and reflected best practice. Staff felt well supported and benefited from having their own in-house trainer, who had an in-depth knowledge of the people they supported. This meant they could tailor the training to support people’s individual needs.

Staff demonstrated a good insight into people’s nutritional needs. People were supported to choose, shop and where possible, prepare their meals.

Management and staff we spoke with, were knowledgeable about people’s care and support needs and what was important to them. We observed good, caring, person focused interaction from staff who were motivated and enjoyed their work, which enhanced people’s wellbeing. It reflected what relatives and professionals told us, and our own observation. Staff respected people’s privacy and encouraged independence.

Systems were in place to ensure people received a comprehensive assessment and person-centred support, as they made the transition from family carer/education to supported living. People’s support plans provided staff clear with guidance on what was important to the person and the level of support they required to meet their holistic needs and goals. Staff were aware of people’s individual communication needs, including the aids they used to support them in having a voice and making their needs known.

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.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

The provider and registered manager were aware of their responsibilities and acted on improvements they had identified through outcomes of safeguards, quality and safety audits. People, relatives and staff had a say in how the service was run and felt listened to. The leadership fostered an open and honest culture and were motivated in listening and acting on feedback to drive continual improvements. The provider worked well with external agencies and organisations to support people’s health and wellbeing.

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 19 January 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.