The inspection took place on 15 April 2015 with the provider being given short notice of the visit to the office in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies. The service was previously inspected on 19 August 2013, when no breaches of legal requirements were identified.
Lifetime Healthcare provides personal care and support to people living in the community. It supports people whose main needs are those associated with older people, including dementia, learning disabilities and physical disabilities, as well as younger people with these conditions. Care and support was co-ordinated from the services office which is based in the village of Harthill. The agency also provides befriending and domestic services.
The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
At the time of our inspection there were 46 people receiving support with their personal care. We spoke with ten people who used the service and seven relatives about their experiences of using the agency. All the people we spoke with told us they were very happy with the service provided.
People’s needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and they told us they had been involved in formulating and updating their care plans. The information contained in the care records we sampled was individualised and clearly identified people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care and the environment they lived in.
We found people received a service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. We saw changes in people’s needs were quickly identified and their care package amended to meet the changes. Where people needed assistance taking their medication this was administered in a timely way by staff who had been trained to carry out this role.
Policies and procedures were in place covering the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), which aims to protect people who may not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out what must be done to make sure that the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions are protected, including balancing autonomy and protection in relation to consent or refusal of care or treatment.
We found the service employed enough staff to meet the needs of the people being supported. We saw people mainly had a team of care staff who visited them on a regular basis. People who used the service praised the staff who supported them and raised no concerns about how their care was delivered.
There was a recruitment system in place that helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. We saw new staff had received a structured induction and essential training at the beginning of their employment. This had been followed by refresher training to update their knowledge and skills. Staff told us they felt very well supported by the management team.
The company had a complaints policy, which was provided to each person in an information pack given to them at the start of their care package. When concerns had been raised we saw the correct procedure had been used to investigate and resolve issues.
The provider had systems in place to enable people to share their opinion of the service provided and check staff were following company polices.