Archived: Independent Home Life Services Also known as Live Well at Home

Updated 18 May 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 was planned to check 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.

This inspection took place on the 3, 6 and 22 March 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and three experts by experiences. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert had experience and knowledge of caring for older people.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. The registered manager had completed a Provider Information Return for this service. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service. We also looked at the notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also spoke with three healthcare professionals as well as local authority commissioners about the service.

We spoke with 28 people who were using the service and with 18 people’s relatives. We also reviewed questionnaire responses received from people and their relatives to CQC before the inspection. We also spoke with 13 members of staff which included three care staff, an office administrator, two human resources staff, four team leaders, the training manager, the branch manager and the registered manager. We reviewed 20 people's care files, care staff training and recruitment records and records relating to the general management of the service.

Updated 18 May 2017

This inspection took place on 3, 6 and 22 March 2017 and was announced. Independent Home Life Services, also known as Live Well at Home provides domiciliary care services to people who live in their own home. The service is provided to people living in Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud and surrounding areas. The service also covers extra care sheltered housing services in Gloucester and Stroud. At the time of our inspection there were 229 people with a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia using the service.

We last inspected in February 2015. At the February 2015 inspection we found that the provider was meeting all of the requirements of the regulations at that time.

At our inspection on 3, 6 and 22 March 2017, there was a registered manager in post. The previous registered manager had left the service in March 2015. Additionally branch manager was in position and they were in the process of applying to be registered with the care quality commission. 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.

People received safe and effective care which enabled them to live in their own homes. People and their relatives praised the care staff and spoke positively about the care they received. The care people received was personalised to their needs. People and their relatives felt involved in their care and spoke positively about the relationships they had with staff. People and their relatives felt they had the information they needed and their views were listened to and respected.

People told us they felt listened to and could not fault the care they received. People were cared for by care staff and team leaders who were supported by the registered manager. Staff had access to professional development through the provider. The registered manager and training manager knew the needs of staff and had systems to ensure staff had access to the training and support they needed. All staff told us they were supported.

The registered manager had systems to monitor the quality of service people received. The systems enabled the registered manager to identify concerns and make clear improvements to the service. There were strong systems in place to ensure the quality of care people received was of a high standard.