Livingstone Court

Updated 22 March 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an inspection manager.

Service and service type:

Livingstone Court is registered as a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service employed a manager who was registered with the CQC. This means that they and the registered provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was announced. We gave the registered manager a short period of notice because people who lived at the service were often out engaging in leisure or work placement activities. We wanted to be sure they were offered the opportunity to participate in the inspection.

What we did:

Before the inspection we received a completed Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the home, what the home does well and improvements they plan to make. We took the PIR into account when we made our judgements in this report.

We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about. We considered the last inspection report and information that had been sent to us by other agencies. We also had contact with commissioners who had a contract with the registered provider.

During our inspection visit we undertook a tour of the premises. With their permission, we spoke with four people in their private flats and observed how staff interacted with and communicated with people. We also spoke with one staff member, the registered manager, acting manager and the deputy manager.

In addition, we looked at specific parts of the care records of three people and records in relation to the management of the service. These included quality assurance checks, staff training, safeguarding, complaints and accidents and incident information.

Updated 22 March 2019

About the service:

Livingstone Court is a residential care service which is located near to the centre of the coastal town of Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. The service provides a transitional environment for up to 13 people who have needs related to learning disabilities. The overall aim of the service is to enable people to experience living in their own self-contained accommodation, with access to the residential care support assessed as needed, with the aim to enable people to be as independent as possible. It is part of the larger organisation of Linkage Community Trust and is supported by a team of regional and head office staff.

The service worked within the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensured that people could live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.

There were 10 people living at the service at the time of this inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

•People continued to receive safe care. Staff understood how to keep people safe from harm and risk assessments were in place to help people and staff manage potential risks within people's day to day lives, whilst also promoting their independence.

•There were enough staff who had the right knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs in a personalised way.

•People were supported to have access to a varied and nutritious diet and the information and support they needed from staff and external healthcare professionals enabled people to consistently maintain their health.

•Staff were caring and people were treated with respect and kindness.

•People were supported to have choice and control of their lives, to be involved in reviewing their care and to be at the centre of making decisions about any changes to the way care was provided.

•People had access to a wide range of work and leisure activities of their choice and were supported to maintain any interests or hobbies they had.

•People, their circle of support and staff had a say in how the service was being run and there was an open and inclusive culture within the service.

•The registered providers governance systems continued to ensure any shortfalls in the service were addressed in a timely and responsive way.

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

Rating at last inspection:

Livingstone Court was last inspected on 28 July 2016 (report published on the 1 September 2016) and was rated as good overall.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained rated good overall.

Follow up:

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