Archived: Lifeways Inclusive Lifestyles Limited

Lifeways Inclusive Lifestyles Ltd provides personal care and support to adults living in their own houses and flats in the community.

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.

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

People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse. Relatives told us they felt their family member was safe and well protected. There were enough staff on duty with the right mix of skills to support people safely and effectively. Staff were recruited and selected safely. Medications were safely managed, administered and stored. Infection control and prevention was managed well. Incidents, accidents and near misses were recorded and monitored to ensure there was opportunity for lessons learned.

People were assessed before they used Lifeways by the registered manager, and their outcomes and choices were recorded and monitored to ensure consistency and good practice. Staff were supported and supervised, trained, and suitably skilled to meet the requirements of their role. People were supported by staff to have sufficient food and fluid intake throughout the day and night. There was a clear process for referring people to external services were required and this was applied consistently to ensure care was safe. People lived in their own homes in the community, and were supported to live at home safely by Lifeways. The service fully met and complied with the principles of the MCA and no one was being unlawfully deprived of their liberty.

Staff treated people with respect, kindness, equality and dignity. Relatives spoke positively about the staff. People were included as much as possible in their day to decision making and choices. People’s privacy and independence was encouraged, family relationships and friendships were respected and promoted.

A personalised care plan was developed for each person with their involvement or with their family members involvement if appropriate. Care plans included people’s individual preferences and interests. The service actively encouraged and supported people to communicate in a style which was relevant for them, fully considering their equality needs. People’s interests and chosen activities were prioritised by staff. There was a complaints process in place which outlined response times and procedure. End of life care was discussed sensitively and with care and compassion.

The registered manager promoted a positive ethos and culture, which was centred around personalisation and inclusion. The registered manager and provider understood their responsibility to inform people when care fell short or did not meet expected standards. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing was effectively managed through ongoing monitoring of the service. The registered manager had a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities in line with regulatory requirements. The service was open and inclusive and fully considered people’s equality needs. There were effective systems in place for checking and improving the quality and safety of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was last rated good. (Report Published June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection in line with the last 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 Inclusive Lifestyles Ltd is registered to provide domiciliary care to people who have learning disabilities and complex needs. They provide support to seven people in two separate shared houses. Each person within the shared house has their own separate tenancy agreements and are supported by staff 24 hours a day.

A registered manager was in post at the time of 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.

The registered manager had a number of different systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the homes, ensuring that people were receiving safe, compassionate and effective care. Such systems included weekly, monthly, annual audits and the relevant health and safety and infection control checks.

We have made a recommendation to the provider about seeking and gathering the views of others as a way to maintain and improve the standard and quality of care being provided.

Staff were knowledgeable around the area of safeguarding procedures and knew how to report any concerns. All staff we spoke with were able to explain who they would report their concerns to and what actions to take. Staff had completed safeguarding training and there was a safeguarding policy in place.

All care files contained individual care plans and risk assessments which were regularly reviewed and updated in order to minimise risk. Care plans were person centred and contained a detailed amount of information in relation to a person’s wishes, choices and preferences.

Risk assessments were in place for all seven people who lived at the two shared homes. The assessments offered key information about significant areas of risk and how such situations would need to be managed for the safety of everyone living in the homes.

There was a significant amount of emphasis on person centred care and support for people. ‘Person centred’ care means that the service tailors its approach to the care which needs to be provided to suit the needs of the person and not the needs of the organisation. People were supported to be independent and were encouraged to actively manage their own lives as much as possible.

Recruitment was safely and effectively managed. Staff personnel files which were reviewed during the inspection demonstrated that effective recruitment practices were in place. This meant that all staff who were working at the homes had suitable and sufficient references and disclosure and barring system checks (DBS) in place. DBS checks ensure that staff who are employed to care and support people are suitable to work within a health and social care setting. This enables the registered manager to assess level of suitability for working with vulnerable adults.

Medication was administered safely by staff who had received the appropriate training. Medication records were accurate, medication audits were conducted on a weekly basis, systems were in place to order repeat medication, dispose of medication as well having the correct storage procedures in place.

Accidents and incidents were routinely recorded on an internal database system. These were discussed as part of team meetings and routinely analysed as a measure to explore if lessons could be learnt.

The registered provider operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We were provided with information in relation to capacity assessments and processes which were in place to make decisions in a person’s best interest. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff expressed how they were fully supported in their roles; they had completed all mandatory training as well as specialist training in order to fulfil their roles effectively. Staff received regular supervisions and annual appraisals were being completed as well as regular team meetings taking place.

People were supported with their nutrition and hydration needs. Staff supported people to make their own decisions with the food and drink; people were involved with the preparation of food and were encouraged to make choices about the different types of food and drink they wished to be purchased.

Staff were caring towards people they were supporting and provided respectful, dignified and compassionate care. Relatives we spoke with told us they felt the staff were kind, caring and provided good quality care.

There was a complaints policy in place and people knew how to make a complaint. There was evidence of complaints being submitted and responded to in line with the organisations policy.