Life- Line Care 4 U Noor Centre

Updated 15 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider was 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. This was a comprehensive inspection.

This inspection took place on 3 and 4 December 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection, so that the registered manager could contact people being supported by the service to ask if they would be willing to provide us with feedback about their support. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care 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. A new inspector also took part in the first day of the inspection.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service, including notifications we had received from the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. As part of the inspection we contacted five community health and social care professionals who were involved with the service for their comments. We also contacted Lancashire County Council contracts team and Healthwatch Lancashire for feedback about the service. Healthwatch Lancashire is an independent organisation which ensures that people’s views and experiences are heard by those who run, plan and regulate health and social care services in Lancashire.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

As part of the inspection we spoke on the telephone with four people who received support from the service and seven relatives. We also spoke with one relative at the service’s office. We spoke with three support workers, the registered manager and the team leader. We reviewed the care records of three people who received support from the service. In addition, we looked at service records including staff recruitment, supervision and training records, policies and procedures, complaints and compliments records and audits of quality and safety.

Updated 15 January 2019

We carried out an announced inspection of Life-Line Care 4 U Noor Centre on 3 and 4 December 2018.

Life-Line Care 4 U Noor Centre is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to children, older people, younger adults, people with a physical disability or sensory impairment, people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, people with mental ill health, people who misuse drugs or alcohol and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 52 adults. No children were being supported.

This was our first inspection of the service.

At the time of our inspection the service had a registered manager in post who was responsible for the day to day operation of the service. 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 told us they received safe care. Records showed that staff had been recruited safely and the staff we spoke with were aware of how to safeguard adults and children at risk. There were safe policies and processes in place for the management and administration of medicines.

People supported by the service and their relatives told us staff visited them on time and stayed as long as they should. People were supported by staff they knew and told us they liked the staff who supported them very much.

Staff received an effective induction and appropriate training which was updated regularly. People supported by the service and their relatives felt that staff were competent and had the knowledge and skills to meet their needs.

People received appropriate support with eating, drinking and their healthcare needs. Referrals were made to community health and social care professionals to ensure that people’s needs were met.

People told us staff respected their right to privacy and dignity. They told us staff took their time when providing support and encouraged them to be as independent as possible.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way; the policies and systems at the service supported this practice. Where people lacked the capacity to make decisions about their care, the service had taken appropriate action in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People received care that reflected their needs, risks and preferences. People told us their care needs had been discussed with them and we found that where appropriate, their relatives had been consulted.

People being supported and their relatives told us they were happy with how the service was being managed. They found the registered manager and staff approachable.

Staff felt well supported and fairly treated by the registered manager. They told us they would be happy for a member of their family to be supported by the service.

The registered manager regularly sought feedback from people being supported and their relatives. We noted that people had expressed a high level of satisfaction about all areas of the service.

Audits and checks of the service were completed regularly. We found the checks completed were effective in ensuring that appropriate levels of quality and safety were maintained at the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.