• Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Lifeways Community Care Limited (Bolton)

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

1-3, The Courtyard, Calvin Street, Bolton, BL1 8PB (020) 7202 6300

Provided and run by:
Lifeways Community Care Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Our current view of the service

Requires improvement

Updated 16 October 2024

Dates of assessment 24 October to 7 November 2024.

The inspection was prompted by concerns received from commissioners of services and the lack of oversight at both a local and wider level. There was no registered manager at the time of this assessment however, a manager was in post and became registered soon after this assessment.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

Staff supported people to take part in activities and to pursue their interests however, these were impacted at times due to insufficient staffing levels, or because staff did not have the right skills. Not all staff recognised the use of restrictive practice, and these were not always reflected within support plans. People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service had appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s physical and emotional needs and keep them safe, however people’s social needs were not always met. People could communicate their needs with staff because staff supporting them understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture:

It was not always possible to put people at the centre of their care due to the staffing levels within services. The routines of those more dependent on staff at times revolved around the availability of staff. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. There had been limited involvement from senior managers and the lack of a registered manager in the service.

People's experience of the service

Updated 16 October 2024

We visited a central office and 3 supported living projects; we engaged with 1 person who received a regulated activity and their relative. We also spoke with 1 person who received minimal support. An assessor contacted 10 family members by phone to gather their views on the quality of the care and support.

People were supported to maintain relationships, networks and pursue activities that were important to them. However, we identified times where opportunities for people had been limited, due to a lack of staff support or staff who did not possess the correct skills. Feedback we received was mostly positive. People were treated with dignity and respect and staff responded positively when people required support or reassurance. People and their relatives felt confident to complain if they needed to.

We observed some concerns during our onsite visits in relation to consent, person-centred care and good governance. The 3 properties we visited were fit for purpose and some people had personalised their own living personal spaces.