Living Ambitions Limited (Doncaster)

Updated 10 March 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

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

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 14 people who used the service and about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 27 members of staff including the registered manager, senior locality manager’s, service manager’s and support workers. We also carried out observations of how staff interact with people.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 11 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training information and quality assurance information.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 10 March 2020

About the service

Living Ambitions Limited (Doncaster) is a supported living service and provides personal care and support to people living in shared, supported living projects and singularly, in their own homes in South Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire. The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provider the regulated activity personal care.

At the time of our inspection there were 148 people using the service. 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

People told us they were safe and staff treated people well. People's known risks were assessed

and managed to reduce the risk of avoidable harm. Staff knew how to keep people safe and how to report any concerns relating to people's safety. Staff had good knowledge of people's preferences and used these to support people safely.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines when needed. Staff received an induction and ongoing training and felt supported by the registered manager. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to access healthcare services when required.

People were supported by a caring and consistent staff team who supported them to maintain their independence and dignity. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Staff used care plans to ensure people received care in line with their preferences.

People and relatives knew how to raise a concern if needed. The registered manager had systems in place to monitor the service and to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

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 7 June 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.