L'Arche Liverpool

Updated 27 January 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 6 January 2022 and was announced the day before the inspection.

Updated 27 January 2022

About the service:

L’Arche Liverpool provides ‘supported living’ services across Liverpool to people in their own tenancies. At the time of inspection, the service was providing support to 40 people with different health needs, mental health conditions, learning disabilities and/or autism.

People’s experience of using this service:

We found and heard some very positive examples, but also identified improvement was needed. We considered everything we looked at in proportion, to achieve a balanced judgement based on people’s experience, which was overall very good.

Staff told us there had been a period of unsettlement, but that over the last few months, due to new arrangements, things had much improved. The provider was aware of improvement needed and were addressing them through a comprehensive management restructuring. We considered that this would help with issues we identified regarding robust planning and review, overview, record-keeping and governance to support consistent safety and quality of care. The service remained caring overall, although in parts more consideration needed to be given to consistently maintain people’s respect, dignity and privacy.

However, at this inspection we also learned of several examples that showed how at times the service was exceptional at responding to people’s needs. For these individuals and their families, the service had truly had a remarkable impact.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support, by promoting choice, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent. The ‘supported living’ services had been developed out of former care homes, but the provider evidenced how they had changed the setup to real tenancies. We discussed some further considerations with managers around this. Personalised care and support, as well as smaller flat setups mitigated negative impacts on people in slightly larger settings for up to 10 tenants. People were well connected with each other and the wider community.

People felt safe with the support from staff and told us or showed us in their individual ways that they were happy with their care. Staff and relatives told us about the positive, person-centred and inclusive quality of the service. We saw this reflected in the way staff supported people’s unique ways of communicating. The service embraced and promoted equality and diversity. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff support was flexible about individuals’ wishes. Staff felt well supported and told us everyone worked well together to provide a good service for people.

People were supported to be active in ways that were meaningful to them, as well as encouraged to try new things. People, relatives and staff were actively involved in the service and new ways to include them were being developed.

Rating at the last inspection:

At the last inspection we rated the service as overall Outstanding (3 November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection that was scheduled based on the previous rating. We inspected to check whether the service had sustained its Outstanding rating. The service continued to meet the characteristics of Outstanding under Responsive. We found the service on balance, and with ongoing improvement work, met the criteria of Good in all other areas. Further detail on the changed rating for Caring and Well-Led is in our detailed findings below.

Follow up:

We will follow up on this inspection through ongoing monitoring of the service, through conversations and notifications.

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