YourLife (Sidcup)

YourLife (Sidcup) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to older people in their own homes within an assisted living development. 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. At the time of the inspection the service supported eight people with their personal care.

People's experience of using this service

Risks were not always assessed, identified or updated and risk management plans were not always in place to manage risks safely. The provider had failed to report potential safeguarding concerns to both safeguarding authorities and CQC.

People said they felt safe. Medicines were safely managed. People were protected against the risk of infection. Sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff were deployed to meet people's needs. Accidents and incidents were recorded, and learning was disseminated to staff. Appropriate recruitment checks were carried out before staff joined the service. Staff were supported through regular training and supervisions. Assessments were carried out prior to people joining the service. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. People were supported to have maximum 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. People were supported to eat a well-balanced diet if required. People had access to healthcare professionals when required to maintain good health.

Staff maintained people’s privacy and dignity and their independence was promoted. People and their relatives where appropriate, had been consulted about their care and support needs. People’s end of life care wishes were recorded in their care files. There was an effective complaints system to manage people concerns in a timely manner. The provider worked in partnership with other healthcare agencies.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires Improvement (published 10 December 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation that the provider seek, familiarise and implement national guidance in relation to reporting safeguarding concerns.

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 any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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

YourLife (Sidcup) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to older people in their own homes within an assisted living development. 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. At the time of the inspection the service supported five people with their personal care.

People's experience of using this service

Accidents and incidents were not always appropriately managed, and learning was not disseminated to staff. Recruitment checks were not always robust as the provider had not carried out checks of staff members previous work history and experience. Risk assessments and care plans were not always updated following a change in people's care or support needs. People’s end of life care wishes were not recorded in their care files. The provider did not have effective processes in place to monitor the quality of the service as they had not identified the issues we found at this inspection.

People said they felt safe and that their needs were met. There were appropriate safeguarding systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Medicines were safely managed. People were protected against the risk of infection. Sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff were deployed to meet people's needs. Staff were supported through regular training and supervisions. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. People were supported to have maximum 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. People were supported to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet if required. People had access to healthcare services when required to maintain good health and their independence was promoted.

People and their relatives where appropriate, had been consulted but their care and support needs. There was an effective complaints system to manage people concerns in a timely manner. The provider worked in partnership with the local authority to ensure people's individual needs were planned.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 24 October 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating

Enforcement

We found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to good governance.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report. Full information about CQC's regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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 any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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

YourLife (Sidcup) provides personal care to older people in their own homes within an assisted living development. Not everyone using YourLife (Sidcup) received regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection there were four people using the service.

The service has recently employed a manager who is not yet registered with the CQC, but who had applied to become the 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At this inspection, we observed that medicines were not always managed safely. Risk assessments for falls were not carried out and there were no risk management plans in place for people at risk of falls. Accidents and incidents were not always appropriately managed. Care plans were not always updated following a change in people’s care or support needs. The provider did not have effective processes in place to monitor the quality of the service as they had not identified the issues we found at this inspection. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.”

There were appropriate safeguarding procedures in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff understood the different types of abuse and knew to who contact to report their concerns. People were protected from the risk of infection. Staff were able to confidently describe what they did to prevent the risk of infection. There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs and the provider followed safe recruitment practices.

Staff completed an induction when they started work and a programme of regular training and supervision to enable them to effectively carry out their roles. People's needs were assessed prior to joining the service to ensure their needs could be met. People were supported to have maximum 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 told us they asked for people’s consent before offering support. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and had access to healthcare professionals when required to maintain good health.

Staff were caring and respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were involved in making decisions about their daily care and support needs. People were supported to be independent wherever possible. People were provided with information about the service when they joined in the form of a 'service user guide' so they were aware of the services and facilities on offer.

People were involved in planning their care needs. People were aware of the service’s complaints procedures and knew how to make a complaint if necessary. People's religious beliefs were recorded and the manager told us they would be supported to meet their individual needs if required. The service was not currently supporting people who were considered end of life. However, if there were we were told this would be recorded in their care plans.

The provider carried out spot and competency checks to make sure people were being supported in line with their care plans. Regular staff meetings were held where feedback was sought from people about the service. Staff were complimentary about the manager and the service. The manager was knowledgeable about the requirements of a registered manager and their responsibilities about the Health and Social Care Act 2014. Notifications were submitted to the CQC as required. The philosophy of the service was to provide a personal care service to older people living in their own homes. To promote dignity privacy and respect and the right to enjoy the highest possible quality of care. The provider worked in partnership with the housing to provider people with a high-quality service.