Your Life (Eastleigh)

Your Life (Eastleigh) provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

There were 56 individual apartments within the building. There was an office base and staff provided people with a range of services including personal care, medicines management and cleaning services. At the time of the inspection six people were receiving care and support.

The service had a registered manager however on the day of our visit they were on annual leave. 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 our last inspection in March 2016 we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The provider continued to take appropriate steps to protect people from the risk of abuse, neglect or harassment. Staff understood their responsibility to safeguard people and the action to take if they were concerned about a person's safety.

There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Recruitment processes were robust and ensured that staff were of suitable character to work with vulnerable people. All staff had been subject to a check by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and had also been required to provide references prior to commencing employment.

Medicines were administered safely to people when they needed this support. Staff were aware of the infection control measures in place to reduce the risk of the spread of infection.

Staff continued to receive the training required to carry out their roles effectively and new staff had also been supported to undertake a period of induction.

Staff had the skills they needed to support people. Staff were regularly assessed through spot checks to ensure they knew how to support people in a safe, respectful and effective way.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were supported to access healthcare professionals when required.

Staff provided a service which was caring, respectful and promoted people's privacy and dignity.

The provider had a system in place for responding to people's concerns and complaints. People were regularly asked for their views.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The inspection took place on 8 and 17 March 2016.

Your Life (Eastleigh) is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support to people living within a specific development. Eleven people were receiving care and support during our inspection and eleven staff were employed to support them. Some people were living with memory loss.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

There was a complaints procedure in place and there had been a complaint made to the provider recently, around an issue which affected everyone. Whilst the complaint had been addressed, the complaint had not been acknowledged and the complainant had not received any communication or letter of apology.

The risks to people’s personal safety were assessed and plans were put in place to minimise the risks, however, the environmental risk assessment did not identify potential risks regarding upstairs balconies and windows.

Staff had completed training with regard to safeguarding adults and gave us examples of the different types of abuse and what they would do if they suspected or witnessed abuse. The provider had safe recruitment procedures in place, which included seeking references and completing checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before employing new staff.

Staff were supported in their work through an induction programme, a range of training, supervision, spot checks and annual appraisal.

People’s needs were met by sufficient numbers of staff. The shift system ensured staff were in the building throughout the day so could support people if they needed more care than was planned, for example, if a person became unwell. People were supported by caring staff and were involved in making decisions about their care and support. Staff were mindful of people’s privacy and dignity when supporting them with personal care.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs. There were safe medication administration systems in place and people received their medicines when required.

The registered manager promoted a positive culture that was open, inclusive and empowering. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and felt able to raise any concerns. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of service being delivered and the running of the service.

We looked at documentation such as care plans, visit schedules, policies and procedures, training records, staff records, surveys and audit material. We spoke with the registered manager, duty manager and two care workers. We discussed the training and support they received.

We met with three people in their homes and one relative of a person using the service. They told us about the service they received.

We considered our inspection findings to answer questions we always ask;

' Is the service safe?

' Is the service effective?

' Is the service caring?

' Is the service responsive?

' Is the service well led?

This is a summary of what we found '

Is the service safe?

The service was safe. People using the service said they felt safe and were involved in the care and support they received. They also understood the care they were receiving.

People's needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. The registered manager told us that when people were referred to the service an assessment was carried out to ensure they could meets the person's individual needs.

We saw that people's care plans contained the information staff needed to care for people safely and was easy to read. Information was stored in sequence and this made the care plan easy to follow.

Care plans for people who use the service were stored in filing cabinets within the provider's offices. These cabinets were lockable and therefore files and records containing people's personal details were kept securely.

Is the service effective?

The service was effective. We spoke with two care workers who recognised they had a role in encouraging and prompting independence.

Daily records we saw showed that care and support was being delivered in line with people's plans of care.

We found that each care worker had completed induction training before they started providing care. Induction training covered topics such as moving and handling, medicines management and safeguarding of vulnerable adults.

Is the service caring?

The service was caring. People using the service said care was provided in a respectful way. A relative of a person using the service said: 'I really don't know what I would do without them [care workers].

One person who uses the service said: 'My carer is very good. She knows all about me. I do miss her when she has a day off but the person who comes in her place is just as pleasant'.

Is the service responsive?

The service was responsive. Staff explained how they respected people's privacy and dignity. They all said they had been trained to provide care in a way that people would like.

Initial assessment showed a plan of care was drawn up in consultation with the person concerned. Risk assessments were completed to help to ensure staff worked safely.

Is the service well led?

The service was well led. People using the service told us they could recall reviewing their care plans with the duty manager or the registered manager.

Records we examined showed us that the provider's quality and performance manager had carried out an internal audit of the service every two months. This included complaints, incidents and accidents, health and safety issues, a review of care worker files and care plans for people using the service.

The manager told us that consent was obtained from people using the service or their representatives during discussions about the care and support people needed. We looked at five care plans and saw signatures from people confirming their agreement to the care arrangements. People using the service told us they felt safe when staff attended to them because staff "knew how to care and support them". One person we spoke to said: "My carers always ask me how I am feeling before they get me up in the mornings".

Appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work. We looked at five staff files and saw that the necessary checks had been made before people started to provide care in people's homes. We saw that Disclosure and Barring Service (DAB) checks, formally Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) had been completed.

We looked at the complaints record and found that no complaints had been received. The service had been operational since August 2012 and five people were using the service on the day of our inspection. The registered manager told us that any complaint would be responded to in a timely manner.