Background to this inspection
Updated
12 July 2018
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 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.
This inspection took place on 28 June and 2 July 2018 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because the registered manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that someone would be available. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the PIR, previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. Notifications are certain events that providers are required by law to tell us about. We also contacted the local authority and a healthcare professional for their views on the service.
All the people living in the home we visited had varying degrees of difficulty verbalising. However, we spoke with two people, three relatives, two care staff, the registered manager and the operations director. During the inspection we looked at five people’s care plans, four staff files, medicine records and other records relating to the management of the service. We observed care practice throughout on the second day of our inspection.
Updated
12 July 2018
We undertook an announced inspection of Life Path Trust on 28 June and 2 July 2018.
Life Path Trust limited provides personal care for people with learning disabilities. The service supports people in three supported living complexes in the Oxfordshire area. The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. On the days of our inspection 15 were being supported by the service.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.
At this inspection we found the service remained Good overall.
Why the service is rated Good:
At our last inspection in June 2016 we found risks were not always managed safely. Some staff did not always follow guidance provided to keep people safe and the registered manager immediately took action to address the issue. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.
People remained safe living in the home. There were sufficient staff to meet people's needs and staff had time to spend with people. Risk assessments were carried out and promoted positive risk taking, which enabled people to live their lives as they chose. People received their medicines safely and were protected from the risks of infection.
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.
The service continued to provide support in a caring way. Staff supported people with kindness and compassion and went the extra mile to provide support at a personal level. Staff knew people well, respected them as individuals and treated them with dignity whilst providing a high level of emotional support. People and their relatives, were fully involved in decisions about their care needs and the support they required to meet those individual needs.
People’s nutritional needs were met and staff supported people to maintain a healthy diet. Where people had specific dietary needs, these were met.
There was a positive culture at the service that valued people, relatives and staff and promoted a caring ethos that put people at the forefront of everything they did.
People continued to receive effective care from staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them and meet their needs. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the procedures in the service supported this practice. People were supported to access health professionals when needed and staff worked closely with people's GPs to ensure their health and well-being was monitored.
People had access to information about their care and staff supported people in their preferred method of communication.
The service continued to be responsive to people's needs and ensured people were supported in a personalised way. People's changing needs were responded to promptly. People had access to a variety of activities that met their individual needs.
The registered manager monitored the quality of the service and looked for continuous improvement. There was a clear vision to deliver high-quality care and support and promote a positive culture that was person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering which achieved good outcomes for people.