Archived: My Life Living Assistance (Gillingham)

Updated 11 August 2017

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 is 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.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the information in the PIR and also looked at other information we held about the service before the inspection visit.

This inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector on the first day and two adult social care inspectors on the second day.

We looked at previous inspection reports and other information we held about the service before we visited. We looked at notifications sent in by the provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

We visited seven people in their homes and also spoke with 4 relatives. In addition we spoke with three people and four relatives over the telephone following the inspection. We also spoke with nine staff members as well as the registered manager and business development manager, training officer, quality service improvement manager.

We looked at records which related to people’s individual care and the running of the service. Records seen included six care and support plans, quality audits and action plans, six staff recruitment files and records of meetings and staff training.

Updated 11 August 2017

This inspection took place on 27 and 29 June 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available for the inspection. It also allowed us to arrange to visit people receiving a service in their own homes.

My Life Living Assistance provides personal care to people living in Gillingham and surrounding areas. In addition they also provide live–in care support and a sit in service.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection of the service in March 2015. The service was not entirely effective in all key areas. Formal processes were not always followed consistently to ensure the service operated within relevant legislation concerning mental capacity and consent at all times. At this inspection we found the same concerns remained.

We found at this inspection we found people’s rights were not fully protected as the manager had not followed correct procedures where people lacked capacity to make decisions for themselves. We observed where decisions were made for people the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were not always followed.

This was a very large service and most people and their relatives were complimentary about the quality of the service provided and of the management and staff team. One person told us, “They [staff] are all lovely. I look forward to them coming”.

The quality officers planned visits to make sure staff arrived to each person at the agreed time. However some people told us they did not always know who was coming to see them.

People had positive relationships with the care workers who supported them. Staff knew people's individual histories, likes and dislikes and things that were important to them. People's privacy and dignity was respected and information personal to them was treated in confidence

A recruitment procedure was in place and staff received pre-employment checks before starting work with the service. New members of staff received an induction which included shadowing experienced staff before working independently.

The provider had effective systems to manage staff rosters, match staff skills with people's needs and identify what capacity they had to take on new care packages. This meant that the service only took on new work if they knew there were the right staff available to meet people's needs.

Staff understood how to keep people safe in their own homes. Assessments had been completed to identify and manage any risks of harm to people around their home

Systems were in place to ensure people received their medicines safely. All staff received medicine administration training and had to be assessed as competent before they were allowed to administer people’s medicines.

Staff monitored people’s health with their consent and could refer and direct to healthcare professionals as appropriate. Support was provided for people to attend hospital and doctor appointments.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and plan on-going improvements. People using the service and staff felt involved and able to make suggestions or raise concerns.

We have made a recommendation about staff training on the subject of Mental Capacity Act.