Background to this inspection
Updated
1 April 2023
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by 2 inspectors. 1 inspector completed the site visit and 1 inspector completed telephone calls to staff.
Service and service type
The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides care and support to people living in 2 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.
Inspection activity started on 28 February 2023 and ended on 08 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 28 February 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke to 2 people who used the service and 2 relatives about their family members' experience of the care provided. We also spoke with 10 staff, including the registered manager, assistant managers and care staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
1 April 2023
Lyttleton Road is a domiciliary care and supported living service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes and flats which included some 24-hour care.
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 our inspection there were 4 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support:
People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed. Medicine management procedures in place supported safe medicine administration.
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.
People’s communication needs were recorded, and staff supported people with understanding information in a method that suited each individual person.
Right Care:
People were supported by kind staff who had been trained to understand their needs and who had been safely recruited. Care plans were person centred and detailed people’s likes, dislikes, significant people in their lives and any additional needs that may require staff support.
People were treated with dignity and respect. Staff understood people’s needs and encouraged people to learn new skills and participate in activities they enjoyed. Staff respected people’s privacy and maintained people’s dignity.
Staff supported people to access healthcare professionals to remain healthy and safe. People were supported with healthy meal choices and supported to learn new skills such as cooking.
Right Culture:
Systems and processes to ensure management oversight were not always effective. Records were not always accurate and did not always contain sufficient details. The registered manager implemented changes immediately after the inspection.
Feedback was not always sought from relatives and staff. However, people, relatives and staff all knew how to complain, and complaints were managed effectively.
Staff enjoyed working at Lyttleton Road and felt supported within their roles. Staff received supervisions and team meetings to share information and the registered manager completed spot checks to ensure staff were keeping people safe.
The registered manager and staff worked with external professionals to drive improvement and learn lessons.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 18 December 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified a breach in relation to management oversight at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.