About the service: Livingwell Care - 301 Vicarage Road is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults and children. At the time of the inspection 27 people received personal care support from the service. The office is based in Kings Heath Birmingham. The service provides care and support varying from short visits to 24 hours a day support.People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe being supported by Livingwell Care - 301 Vicarage Road. People told us they were made safe by the care they received. Staff told us they had appropriate training, knowledge and support to keep people safe. Staff could tell us how they managed risk and behaviours that challenge that respected the person and supported their dignity.
People and their relatives we spoke with felt confident in the management. They told us there was a caring culture within the service and staffing levels were appropriate.
We looked at how the management team planned their rotas. Staff were given travelling time between each person they visited. People told us they always received their full allocated visit times.
Staff told us they had regular clients and positive relationships had been built. One staff member told us, “When [person] is living in the moment and remembers me, it makes my day.”
It was clear staff morale was good and everyone was committed to ensuring people received care and support based on their preferences and life choices. The registered manager told us the low staff turnover allowed positive relationships to be built with people receiving support and strong teamwork to develop. People who used the service expressed positive views on how they were treated by staff.
Care plans had been developed with people and their relatives being involved throughout the process. These were regularly reviewed to reflect people’s current needs. The management of risk was included within the care plan to minimise the likelihood of preventable harm occurring.
Staff files we looked at evidenced the registered manager used the same safe recruitment procedures we found at our last inspection. Staff told us training was ongoing and they were supported to gain vocational qualifications in health and social care.
There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people and their family. People we spoke with told us they were happy with the support they received.
The service continued to have good oversight of relevant procedures through monitoring and auditing to ensure people received effective support and the service was well led.
The registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included questionnaires to seek their views about the service provided. We noted activities were provided as part of the care people received. Staff told us they supported people to activities that enhanced their physical and mental wellbeing.
The service engaged with outside agencies to ensure people received timely healthcare support. The management team engaged with other agencies to gain updates on legislation, best practice and learn from other providers experiences.
More information in the full report.
Rating at last inspection:
Good (Report published 16 April 2016)
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme or if any issues or concerns are identified.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk