Your Life (Newport)

Updated 9 November 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 18 October 2019 and ended on 22 October 2019. We visited the office location on both these days.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information, we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also considered information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited four people in their homes and spoke with one person in the service office about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with two relatives and five members of staff including the registered manager.

We viewed seven people’s care records and three staff files in relation to recruitment. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, records of accidents, incidents and complaints, audits and quality assurance reports.

Updated 9 November 2019

About the service

Your Life (Newport) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Your Life (Newport) operates an assisted living scheme in a modern and purpose built private development called Somers Brook Court. The property consists of flats privately owned and occupied by older people who also share some communal areas and facilities; such as dining rooms, lounges and gardens.

Not everyone using Your Life (Newport) 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. At the time of our inspection 15 people who lived at Somers Brook Court received personal care and support.

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

People told us they remained happy with the home care service they received from Your Life (Newport) and were positive about all aspects of the service. All the people we spoke with praised the staff and registered manager for their kind, respectful and supportive approach.

People were supported by staff who knew how to prevent and manage risks and keep them safe from avoidable harm. Recruitment practices were safe and there were sufficient numbers of consistent staff available to meet people’s needs. People received continuity of personal care and support from staff who arrived on time for their scheduled visits and were familiar with their needs and wishes. People received their medicines as they were prescribed. The service's arrangements for controlling infection remained effective.

Staff received effective training that gave them the skills to support people with their needs. People were supported to maintain a nutritionally well-balanced diet, where required and to access health and social care professionals if needed. The registered manager worked in close partnership with health and social care professionals and agencies to plan and deliver people's packages of care and support.

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.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect. People were treated equally and had their human rights and diversity respected. People were encouraged and supported to remain independent.

Care plans remained personalised, which ensured people received personal care that was tailored to meet their individual needs and wishes. People were encouraged to make decisions about the care and support they received and had their choices respected. People were confident that if they raised any issues, concerns or complaints these would be dealt with effectively by the registered manager.

The management team were open and transparent and understood their regulatory responsibilities. People and their relatives felt the management team were open, approachable and supportive. There were effective governance systems in place to identify concerns in the service and drive improvement. They were responsive to feedback from people, staff and professionals and acted to make improvements in the service.

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 this service was Good (published March 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.