Lifeways Community Care Limited (West Midlands)

Lifeways Community Care (Stoke) are registered to provide personal care and support to people either living in the community in their own homes or to people who lived in shared accommodation under tenancy agreements, self-contained bungalows or apartments within the community. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting personal care to people across nine sites and was supporting 36 people aged 18 and over at the time of the inspection.

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

People were empowered to lead their care and had the maximum choice and control over the way in which they were supported. People’s care was personalised which met their needs, and their preferences were consistently considered.

People were supported to live independently, for some this was the first time in their lives. They were supported to move into the service with care and compassion taking their anxieties into consideration and building support around them which made them feel safe and secure.

Staff understood people’s communication needs and supported them in the best way possible using a variety of tools to support this.

People were allowed to make meaningful friendships and staff were extremely proactive in ensuring people were able to follow their interests, hobbies and lifelong ambitions. This meant people lived meaningful and fulfilling lives. People had their diverse needs considered and respected.

People were able to freely complain and could be assured their complaints would be taken seriously and dealt with promptly and professionally.

There was a positive culture within the staff team which filtered through the services, meaning people were supported by a positive staff team.

The registered manager and the management team lead by example. People, staff and relatives felt their views were important in shaping the future for the service and they felt listened to. The service was proactive and continually worked on ways to improve, this involved being open to feedback from people and relatives.

People and relatives felt they were supported by a caring and considerate staff team who knew them well. People were able to make informed choices and were supported in positive risk taking.

People had their health and wellbeing including their nutritional needs met and were supported and encouraged to live healthier lives.

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 support this practice.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

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.

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 15 February 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 is registered to provide personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Some people lived together in shared accommodation under tenancy agreements and were supported with their care needs by Lifeways. There were 58 people using the service at the time of our inspection visit. The service offered support to people several visits per day, and on a 24 hour basis, where staff were in the person's home at all times. The service supported younger adults with a range of physical and learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. People had a range of complex care needs associated with their condition.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There was not a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection visit. However, the area manager was managing the service when we inspected. We refer to the area manager as the manager in the body of this report.

Staff received training in safeguarding adults and understood the correct procedure to follow if they had any concerns about people’s safety. All necessary checks had been completed before new staff started work at the home to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with the people who lived there. The manager and staff identified risks to people who used the service and took action to manage identified risks and keep people safe.

There were enough staff employed at the service to care for people safely and effectively. People were supported by a staff team that knew them well. New staff completed an induction programme when they started work to ensure they had the skills they needed to support people effectively. Staff received refresher training and had their practice observed to ensure they had the necessary skills to support people. Staff had regular meetings with their manager in which their performance and development was discussed and development plans were agreed.

People’s care was planned with them, and the support of their relatives and staff at Lifeways. This helped to ensure care matched people’s individual needs, abilities and preferences.

People were supported to maintain their purpose and pleasure in life. Activities, hobbies and interests were based around each person's preferences. Events and activities were organised both inside and outside their home. Staff offered people ways to maintain and develop their independence and increase their life skills.

The manager and staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to ensure people were looked after in a way that did not inappropriately restrict their freedom. The manager had made applications to the local authority where people’s freedom was restricted, in accordance with DoLS and the MCA.

Staff were described as being caring and kind. Staff respected people’s decisions to make their own choices and supported people to maintain and develop their independence.

People were supported with their health needs and had access to a range of healthcare professionals where a need had been identified. There were systems in place to ensure medicines were administered safely. People were encouraged to eat a balanced diet that took account of their preferences and nutritional needs.

People who used the service and their relatives, were encouraged to share their views about how the service was run. People knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. Feedback gathered by the provider from people and their relatives was used to drive forward improvements.

Good quality assurance procedures were in place to ensure the quality of the service was maintained, these included regular checks of people’s care plans, medicines administration and staff’s practice. Accidents and incidents were monitored and investigated, and actions were taken to minimise the risks of a re-occurrence.