Your life (Leeds)

Updated 21 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 planned this inspection to check 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

One inspector completed the inspection.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own apartments.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection site visit because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We inspected on 10 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection, we reviewed all the information we held about the service including previous inspection reports and notifications received by the CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law. We requested feedback from other stakeholders. These included Healthwatch Leeds, the local authority safeguarding team and commissioners. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We reviewed information we had received about the service from the provider since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and two visitors about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s support plans and one person’s medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to corroborate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. The requested documents were provided in a timely manner and were used to inform our judgements.

Updated 21 April 2020

About the service

Your Life (Leeds) operates an assisted living scheme in a purpose-built private development called Thackrah Court. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats. It provides a service to older adults. The development consists of 60 flats privately owned and occupied by older people who also share some communal areas and facilities; such as dining rooms, lounges and gardens.

Not everyone using Your Life (Leeds) receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; 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 said they felt the service provided was safe. Staff understood and were aware of the action to take if they suspected harm or abuse. People were protected from risks associated with their care needs because care plans guided staff to support people in a way that reduced identified risks. People told us that enough staff were available to meet their care and support needs.

There were robust recruitment procedures and checks in place to help ensure staff were suitable to work at the service. People’s medicines were managed safely, and people received them as prescribed. Staff had access to cleaning products and equipment such as gloves to support people to keep their homes clean and free from infection.

Staff communicated with people in a kind, caring and respectful manner. Staff had a good understanding of the needs of the people they supported and their likes and dislikes. People were able to choose how and where they spent their day either in their own apartments or together with other homeowners. People were supported to take ownership of activities based on their interests to help reduce the risk of social isolation.

Staff and the management team worked well with other professionals for the benefit of people who used the service. Staff received supervision and competency observations to help ensure they had the knowledge to perform their job roles. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager and staff knew people and their friends and families well. There were systems in place to monitor and evaluate services provided. The provider’s senior management team reviewed concerns, incidents, accidents and notifications to analyse and identify trends and risks, to prevent re-occurrence and improve quality. The service had a complaints and compliments policy in place. People told us they felt they could complain if the needed to and felt this would be dealt with. The provider had a system to analyse incidents and accidents, and this was used to identify themes and learning. The service worked closely with other agencies to help ensure good outcomes for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection the service was rated as Good. (Last report published 22 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.