Lifeways Community Care (Poole)

Lifeways Community Care (Poole) is a supported living service for adults with a learning disability in Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Sherborne and Hampshire. At the time of the inspection it was providing personal care to 11 people in their own homes. The main office is in Poole.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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.

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 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, independence and inclusion. 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

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.

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.

People and relatives expressed confidence they or their loved one were safe from abuse and avoidable harm. People had enough staff working with them who understood their support needs, both employed and regular agency staff. The management team ensuring all overdue staff completed their outstanding online training.

People told us they liked and felt comfortable with their staff. Staff recognised the importance of treating people respectfully, upholding their privacy, dignity and independence. The way they spoke about people reflected this. Staff recognised people should have every opportunity to make choices, with support if necessary, even if they could not verbalise these.

People and relatives praised their or their family member’s care. People had thrived with support from staff they knew and trusted. Staff felt supported, including through training and supervision. The service worked collaboratively with people’s health and social care professionals. People got the support they needed to manage their health.

Support plans were comprehensive, personalised and up to date. Staff encouraged and supported people to keep in touch with their family and friends. People received support to pursue hobbies and interests, and to take part in education and work. People told us about holidays they had been on or were planning, with support from staff.

People, relatives and staff were confident in the leadership of the service. There was an open culture with an emphasis on person-centred support. There were regular audits to check the quality of care and support provided and identify areas for improvement. People and relatives regularly spoke with managers to give their view of the service. They said they would feel comfortable to raise any concerns.

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 5 August 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.

Lifeways Community Care (Poole) is registered to provide personal care in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 11 people. The agency's office is based in Poole and provides support to people in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Sherborne in Dorset.

At the last inspection in June 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Is the service Safe?

People’s medicines were managed safely and any risks to people were identified and managed in order to keep people safe.

Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff to make sure people had the care and support they needed. There was a significant reduction in the use of agency staff and this was an improvement.

Is the service Effective?

Staff received an induction, core training and specialist training so they had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Staff felt better supported by the new management team.

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 place supported this practice.

Is the service Caring?

People and staff had good relationships. Care was provided with kindness and compassion by staff who treated people with respect and dignity. Family and friends relationships were maintained and they continued to play a part in in their care and support.

Is the service Responsive?

People received care and support in a personalised way. Staff knew people well and understood their needs and the way they communicated. People received the health, personal and social care support they needed. People were supported to pursue activities and interests that were important to them.

There was an accessible complaints procedure in place. Complaints were investigated in line with the provider’s policy.

Is the service Well-led

People, staff, a relative and professional told us the service had improved significantly under the new management team and structure. The culture within the service was personalised and open. There was a clear management structure and staff and people felt comfortable talking to the managers about any issues and were sure that any concerns would be addressed. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Lifeways Community Care (Poole) provides support and personal care to 19 people living in North Dorset, Bournemouth, Poole and Hampshire.

We visited and met with five people, spoke with two relatives by telephone, and spoke with seven staff and the registered manager.

As part of this inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the results of eight questionnaires and information received from funding local authorities.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service, their relatives and the staff told us, what we observed and the records we looked at.

If you want to see the evidence that supports our summary please read the full report.

This is a summary of what we found:

Is the service safe?

People were safe from abuse or harm because there were systems in place to report and learn from any allegations of abuse. All eight people who completed a survey told us they felt safe from abuse or harm from staff of this service. One relative said: 'I feel X is safe and well looked after in my opinion'.

Overall, there was enough staff to make sure that people were supported and cared for safely. There were agency staff being used but this was reducing as new staff were being recruited. We observed staff supporting people when they needed any care and support.

Care plans and risk assessments had enough detail to make sure staff could ensure that people received appropriate and safe care. We found that risks were assessed and managed and people were supported to take informed risks.

CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. We found the location to be meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The manager was reviewing whether any applications needed to be made to the court of protection in response to the Supreme Court judgement in relation to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Is the service effective?

We saw that people received care and support as described in their care plans. People were supported in promoting their independence and community involvement.

They had regular contact with people who were important to them, such as members of their families.

Is the service caring?

The service was caring because representatives told us, and we observed that people were treated with kindness and compassion and their dignity was respected. One relative told us: 'The care is brilliant. I have no problems or qualms about the workers'.

People's personal preferences and choices were understood by staff. They had a good knowledge of people's care needs and preferences.

Is the service responsive?

The service was responsive because people's representatives were encouraged to make their views known about their care, treatment and support. People we observed were able to make simple choices about their day to day lives.

People's capacity was assessed and considered and 'best interest' decisions were in place for people's care and support needs where needed.

People's needs were assessed and regularly reviewed. We saw that changes were made to people's care plans when their needs changed or staff learnt new things about them.

People had access to activities that were important to them. Each person had a programme of activities that were based in the community and at the home.

There was a complaints procedure in place. However, no written complaints had been received.

Is the service well-led?

There was a registered manager at the service. The registered manager had been in post for 10 months.

Observations and feedback from relatives and staff was that the culture of the service was improving and becoming more open and transparent. This was because relatives and staff said they felt listened to by the managers and that action was taken when they raised concerns.

There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service.

We saw there were systems in place for reviewing and monitoring incidents, accidents, safeguarding alerts, concerns and complaints. The registered manager showed that learning had taken place from investigations. We saw that risks were anticipated, identified and managed.