Updated 16 June 2025
Date of assessment: 16 June to 25 July 2025. TheSignLife Project is a homecare service providing support to people living in their own homes who are profoundly deaf or deafblind. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 14 adults. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive a regulated activity of personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection, 3 people were in receipt of regulated activity.
This was the first inspection for this provider and we have assessed the service against all the quality statements in the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The service supports some autistic people and people with a learning disability. We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
Overall, we found that care planning and risk assessments lacked sufficient detail and were not person-centred. Financial safeguarding processes were unclear and undocumented and medication management was inconsistent, with gaps in staff training, and competency checks. Governance systems were not effective. Incident and safeguarding records were incomplete, and there was limited evidence of learning from events. Recruitment practices were not robust, with gaps in employment and effort only being made to obtain one reference. Staff training was not consistently monitored, and records showed gaps in key areas such as mental health and learning disability awareness. Oversight mechanisms, including spot checks and management meetings, were either undocumented or lacked structure.
However, the provider and staff demonstrated a clear commitment to the people they support. Staff knew individuals well and were passionate about delivering compassionate care. Communication support was tailored to people’s needs, and staff were proactive in accompanying individuals to appointments and advocating on their behalf.
The provider responded positively to feedback during the inspection and began taking steps to address identified concerns, including improvements to care planning, governance processes and documentation.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulations relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing. In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.