Ordinary Lifestyles

About the service

Ordinary Lifestyles provides care and support to people living in a number of 'supported living' settings so that they can live in their own home 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.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support:

Staff knew and understood people extremely well. They put people at the heart of everything they did, helping people to live active and happy lives. People received care and support from a consistent team of dedicated staff, some of whom had worked for the service for many years. Staff enabled people to access specialist healthcare services and followed best practice when supporting people with their communication, and with making decisions. 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.

Right Care

Everyone who provided feedback to us praised the service. People received person-centred care of a high standard. Staff were caring, kind and understanding and treated people with respect and dignity. Staff knew people well and provided support and care on an individual basis. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. There were enough skilled staff to meet people's needs. Staff were given opportunities to learn and develop their knowledge, which meant people were cared for by highly skilled support workers.

Right Culture:

The culture of the service was exceptionally friendly, open and transparent. People, relatives and staff were listened to, and their feedback used to inform improvement and development. Auditing systems were in place that enabled the registered managers to have effective oversight of the service and identify and respond to any improvements needed.

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 12 April 2018).

Why we inspected

We inspected this service because it was over 5 years since we last visited and inspected them.

Follow up

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

Ordinary Lifestyles supports adults with learning disabilities and physical disabilities within their own homes across the areas of Manchester and Trafford. They offer a range of services from 24 hour support where support workers live in people’s homes to providing an Independent Living Service where people require various degrees of support for specific tasks.

At the time of the inspection there were 28 people who were supported by the service. We were told that 19 people were receiving 24 hour support, six people were living independently and three people were living with their families.

The service had two registered managers who were both present during the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that suitable arrangements were in place to help safeguard people from abuse. Guidance and training was provided for staff on identifying and responding to the signs and allegations of abuse.

We found people were supported by sufficient numbers of suitably skilled and experienced staff who received a thorough induction and were safely recruited.

Staff received the essential training and support necessary to enable them to do their job effectively and support people safely. Records showed that staff had also received training relevant to their role.

We saw that staff interactions were respectful, polite and frequent, with lots of friendly banter.

People’s support plans contained information about their preferred routines, their likes, dislikes, hobbies and family life. They were very person centred. They also contained guidance for staff on how to encourage the people they supported to safely maintain their independence.

Risks to people's health and well-being had been identified and support plans had been put into place to help reduce or eliminate the identified risks.

The support plans we looked at showed there were many varied pastimes and activities made available for people, as individuals, to take part in. People told us they were very happy going to the group events as they enjoyed the activities and liked meeting their friends.

Staff told us that many of the people they supported enjoyed holidays, both at home and abroad with either family or support staff. We were told about holidays that included cruises and trips to Majorca and America.

We saw from our observations, discussions and records that the values of dignity, respect, choice, equality and diversity were reflected throughout the running of the service.

A safe system of medicine management was in place. Medicines were stored securely and records showed that staff received training and competency assessments before they were permitted to administer medicines.

Information was readily available for staff to help ensure the safety of people they supported and also the safety of the staff. Systems were in place in people’s houses to ensure the safety of the people who lived and worked there. We saw that any accidents and incidents that occurred were recorded and monitored.

The service was working within the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA). People's best interests were considered when decision making took place and records showed how people were encouraged to make their own decisions. Records also showed how and why decisions were made by staff in the person’s best interest. For the people whose liberty was restricted in their own homes, the appropriate authorisation was sought from the Court of Protection to ensure their rights were protected.

The service had a complaints procedure. It was an ‘easy read’ document that was kept in each person’s individual file in their home. We saw evidence of how management recorded the action they had taken to address any issues that had been raised.

Effective systems for monitoring the quality of the service were in place. Records showed that audits were undertaken on all aspects of the running of the service. There were also opportunities, such as care review meetings, staff meetings and feedback forms for people to comment on the quality of the care provided.