Archived: Livability Lifestyle Choices West

Updated 8 October 2016

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 was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on the 6 and 7 September 2016 and it was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of our inspection. We did this because the provider or manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We looked at the Provider Information Return for the service. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also sought and received the feedback of four healthcare professionals and commissioners.

We spoke with two people who were being supported by Livability Lifestyle Choices West. We also spoke with three people’s relatives and one person’s advocate. We spoke with four support workers, two team leaders, two office support staff and the registered manager. We reviewed six people's care files. We looked at recruitment and training records for support workers and records relating to the general management of the service.

Updated 8 October 2016

This inspection took place on 6 and 7 September 2016 and was announced. Livability Lifestyle Choices West is agency which provides support to people in their own homes throughout Gloucestershire. A number of people live in properties owned by the provider and live with other people receiving support. People’s needs varied, with some people living with complex health needs. At the time of our inspection 23 people were being supported by the service, however only 11 were receiving support with their personal care (an activity regulated by the Care Quality Commission).

Livability Lifestyle Choices West has a 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We last inspected the service during March 2015. At the March 2015 inspection we found that the provider was not meeting all of the requirements of the regulations at that time. Support workers did not always keep a current and accurate record of people’s care and support, and people’s records were not always confidentially stored. At this inspection (September 2016) we found the provider and registered manager had taken appropriate action.

People’s care and support needs had been assessed. The service was implementing a new care planning system to record people’s care and support needs. People’s care and support plans and risk assessments were detailed and were stored securely. Support workers were responsive to people’s needs and ensured people were safe and comfortable. Where people’s needs changed, support workers ensured their support changed to reflect their needs.

People felt safe when receiving support from support workers employed to meet their needs. Support workers knew their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse. People’s legal rights were protected and support workers ensured people’s right to make decisions were respected.

People, their relatives and advocates spoke positively about support workers. Support workers knew people, their needs, likes and dislikes and used this information to ensure people were kept comfortable and safe. There were enough support workers deployed to safely meet people’s needs. People enjoyed the time they spend with support workers, which included accessing the community and attending activities.

Support workers had access to supervisions and appraisals. Support workers were supported and had access to training and professional development. They felt involved in the day to day running of the service and were encouraged to make suggestions on how the service could improve.

The registered manager and provider had systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service. People, their representatives and stakeholder views were listened to and acted upon.