Your Autumn Years Ltd

Updated 28 June 2019

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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 11 June 2019 and ended on 11 June 2019. We visited the office location on 11 June 2019 to see the registered manager; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did before the inspection

Before our inspection we completed our planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service.

We checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people supported by the service had been received. We also sought feedback from professionals who work with the agency.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Returns. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 11 relatives of people who used the service and five healthcare professionals about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, senior office manager and three palliative support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. These included the care records of two people, staff training records, arrangements for staff recruitment, supervision and appraisal, medication procedures and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 28 June 2019

About the service

YOUR AUTUMN YEARS LTD is a domiciliary care service based in Heysham, Morecambe. The service specialises in providing palliative care to people in need of end of life care. The service operates from Morecambe and across north Lancashire. At the time of our inspection visit the service supported 15 people with palliative care.

YOUR AUTUMN YEARS LTD provides personal care and support to individuals within their own homes. CQC only inspects the service received by people provided with their personal care and help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

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

People’s care and support had been planned proactively and in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their relatives care would be delivered. Care plans were organised and had identified the care and support people required.

People were positive about the service and said staff were kind and caring. People were treated with dignity and respect and were fully involved in their care planning and delivery. People's right to privacy was upheld.

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.

The service worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure they followed good practice and people in their care were safe and received the best possible care.

The service was flexible and care packages were changed and adapted to meet people's changing needs and choices. There was excellent communication between the service and people they supported to ensure they received the care and support they needed.

Healthcare professionals told us the service provided person centred care focusing on people’s needs as an individual and giving them the opportunity to make informed decisions about their care. They said the standard of palliative care provided by staff was very good and they were impressed with the level of professionalism provided throughout the service.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. People told us their visits were well managed and staff who visited them knew and met their care needs.

Procedures were in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. People told us they had no concerns about their safety whilst in the care of staff supporting them.

The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people and their family members. People told us they were happy with their service and had no complaints.

The service used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits and satisfaction surveys to seek people’s views about the service provided

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

This service was registered with us on 25/06/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the services first planned inspection.

Follow up:

The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.