A chance for life Ltd

A Chance for Life Ltd is a service for adults and children whose lives have been changed by injury or serious illness. The service provides case management and rehabilitation. It also provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for people supported in their own homes; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support. At the time of the visit there were 103 people who used the service.

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

People were supported with their medication and staff were trained in this. Some medicines recording was not in line with current guidance. Medication audits were not effective enough to identify those shortfalls. These were addressed with the registered manager at the time of the inspection and were addressed immediately.

People had person-centred care plans in place they had input into. People told us staff were well trained. They also told us they felt very safe. One family member told us, “[Person] is 100% safe with them.” Another told us, “I am happy to go out and leave [person] with the carers. I know that if I was unwell [family member] would be very safe with them.”

People's feedback of the service was positive. They said the care they received helped improve their quality of life. They told us they were supported by familiar staff and there were no issues with time keeping or missed calls.

Staff were recruited safely, well trained and well supported in their roles by the registered manager. Best practice and good care were encouraged with systems in place to share this conduct across the team. One relative told us, “I have never had any complaints. If there were any problems, I would go to [staff] first and if anything, more serious I would go to [registered manager] and feel very comfortable to do so. I have never been made to feel any call is inconvenient and they are very supportive of me and [family member].”

Risks to people and staff had been assessed with appropriate measures in place to help protect people. The registered manager had processes to monitor the safety of people and staff.

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. One family member told us, “They encourage [family member] to be as independent as possible all the time.” Another told us, “The agency is flexible about [family member’s] activities, and they fit the hours around her activities.”

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 11 January 2018). At this inspection we found the service remained good.

Why we inspected

We carried out this inspection due to the length of time since the last inspection. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for A Chance for Life Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We made a recommendation around the provider’s monitoring of medicines records. At the time of inspection, best practice guidance was not followed, and this was not identified by the provider. The provider took action to amend practices when this was highlighted on inspection.

Follow up

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

A Chance for Life Ltd is a service for adults and children whose lives have been changed by injury or serious illness. The service provides case management and rehabilitation. It also provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for people supported in their own homes; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

At the time of the visit there were 63 people who used the service.

At the last inspection in November 2014 the service was rated 'Good'. At this inspection we found the service remained 'Good'. Following this inspection in November 2017, we found the key question ‘is the service effective?’ to be outstanding.

The registered manager had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take appropriate action when required. Recruitment checks were carried out to ensure suitable people were employed to work at the service.

Staff skills knowledge, training and support demonstrated an excellent commitment to providing outstanding care which was embedded into the practices of the staff and the management team. The service put people's views at the forefront of the service and designed the service around their needs.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people who used the service. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care and support people required.

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported. People who received support, or where appropriate their relatives, were involved in decisions and consented to their care. People’s independence and choice was promoted.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required.

We found people had been assisted to have access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were met.

People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise concerns.

The registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of service provided to people. These included regular internal audits of the service, surveys and staff and relatives meetings to seek the views of people about the quality of care being provided.

We looked at the recruitment process undertaken by the provider. We found the provider recruited staff in line with legislation.

There was a case file kept in the person's home and a duplicate copy was kept at the office. Each day a support worker provided care and support they recorded this on a daily log. These were kept in the file in the home for two weeks before being returned to the office. When we spoke with staff they confirmed that the team leader visited the home on a regular basis and reviewed and updated care plans.