Lifetime Home Care Limited

Updated 21 March 2020

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector 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 is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a new manager who had applied to become the registered manager with the Care Quality Commission. This means that once registered 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 provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 6 March 2020 and ended on 6 March 2020. We visited the office location on 6 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed all the information we held about the service, such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the provider is required to tell us about. We also sought information from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and emailed seven members of staff including the manager, supervisors, the owner and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and several medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 21 March 2020

About the service

Lifetime Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency in Harthill providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, there were 54 people receiving a service. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe. The provider had effective safeguarding procedures and staff felt confident raising concerns. People told us their medicines were being managed safely and comprehensive assessments of need and care plans were undertaken.

Staff were skilled and had appropriate training. People told us the staff were very caring. They told us they were treated with dignity and respect. People and families felt listened to and felt confident raising any issues. We saw that where concerns had been raised, these had been actioned effectively.

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.

The service had a new manager in place who had applied to become registered manager. Staff told us they enjoyed their jobs and felt valued by the management team. Audits were taking place and spot checks were carried out to ensure staff provided people’s care safely and in the way they preferred.

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 16th September 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.