Lifeways Community Care (Lancashire South)

Updated 7 July 2022

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 checked 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

One inspector and one Expert by Experience carried out the inspection

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

This service provides care and support to people living in seven ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started when we visited the locations office on 25 May 2022 and ended on 27 May 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. In addition, we spoke with 11 members of staff, the registered manager, senior service manager, area manager team leaders and support workers. We looked at a range of records. This included four people’s care records, three recruitment files, training records, medication records and audits of the service. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures and their quality assurance systems.

After the inspection we continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found and reviewed feedback received by email.

Updated 7 July 2022

About the service

Lifeways Community Care (Lancashire South) provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of the inspection the provider supported 25 people with their personal care needs.

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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The management team were clear about their roles and responsibilities. They worked in partnership with a variety of agencies to ensure people's health and social needs were met. They sought additional support to promote people's physical and mental health. The registered manager and senior service manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Not all feedback was reviewed in a timely manner. We have made a recommendation about this.

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 received support with their healthcare and nutritional needs. The service promoted people’s dignity and independence. Staff spoke positively and caringly about the people they supported. The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people they supported. People we spoke with told us they knew how to make a complaint if they had any concerns.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Staff promoted and provided guidance that respected people’s lifestyle choices and reflected their likes and wishes. People’s values were respected, and staff supported people with their community based daily living skills, work responsibilities and social activities.

Safe recruitment practices were consistently documented. Safeguarding procedures were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse by staff who understood and were trained on how to recognise and respond to concerns. Infection control systems and audits continued to ensure a clean environment for people. Staff had access to suitable amounts of appropriate personal protective equipment to minimise the spread of infection. Not all staff were participating in regular testing for the COVID-19 virus.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us at this location on 11 May 2020 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous premises was good, published on 17 July 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.