Lifeways Community Care (South London)

Updated 22 February 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 carried out by 2 inspectors and an Expert by Experience.

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 14 ‘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 a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this.

Inspection activity started on 11 January 2023 when our Expert by Experience made phone calls to people and relatives and ended on 16 January 2023 when we visited people in their own homes. We visited the location’s office/service on 11 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed other information we held about the service, such as statutory notifications of safeguarding incidents.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 people and 9 relatives to obtain their views on the service they received. We also spoke with the regional operations director, the registered manager and 8 staff (this included managers at individual supported living settings as well as support workers).

We reviewed various documents related to the running of this service. This included the support plans in varying detail for 8 people, numerous medicine administration records, 10 staff recruitment files, accident and incident information, training and supervision information and governance processes.

Updated 22 February 2023

About the service

Lifeways Community Care (South London) (South London) provides care and support to people living in their own flats or houses in various supported living settings. 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.

At the time of this inspection 33 people were using the service, many of whom had a learning disability, autism, complex health or communication needs. Not everyone using Lifeways Community Care (South London) receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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

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.

Right Culture:

Some records held by the service required improvement. This included information around how people liked to take their medicines. Following our inspection however, the registered manager was able to provide us with evidence to address some of the shortfalls we found.

Some staff did not always feel supported by their manager or senior management and they felt isolated in their roles. The registered manager had identified this as an issue previously and was working to address this.

Right Support:

Despite a large number of staff being employed by the service, some people told us they were not always supported to go out as much as they wished. People said they used to access the community more than they do now. Although we did receive positive feedback as well and saw that some people had active lives. We have issued a recommendation to the provider in this respect.

Some people were not always provided with the opportunity to be involved in the day to day running of their supported living service through tenants meetings.

Right Care:

People were happy with the way staff prepared their meals and drinks and they told us they chose what they wished to eat and drink.

People felt safe in the hands of Lifeways Community Life (South London) carers. They said staff looked after them well and made them feel confident that they would be at a reduced risk of harm.

People said staff were kind and caring. They had good relationships with staff and had built up a good rapport.

Staff received the training they required and were given the opportunity to meet with their line manager through supervision. Staff had undergone infection control training and there were no concerns in this respect.

People were supported to access healthcare professional input when needed and staff worked with other agencies to help provide the most appropriate care to people.

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 had support plans in place which recorded specific information about them to help staff provide the most appropriate care.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service at the previous premises was Good, published 4 October 2018.

Why we inspected

We inspected this service as, following the last inspection, the service registered with us at a new location.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have also made a recommendation to the provider in relation to staff deployment.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.