Archived: Lincolns Care Ltd

As part of this inspection we spoke with three people who used the service, a family member of one of the people who use the service, the registered manager and four members of care staff. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service which included four care plans, daily records, policies and procedures, staff records and quality assurance monitoring records.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service, their relatives and the staff told us and the records we looked at.

Is the service safe?

People told us that they were satisfied with how their individual support and care needs had been safely met. They also indicated to us that they felt safe because they liked the members of staff and trusted them to provide them with safe and appropriate support and care. One of the people who used the service told us, '(The staff) never let me down.'

Health and safety risk assessments had been carried out and measures were in place to minimise these risks, to keep people safe.

There were appropriate policies and procedures in place to respond to people's individual safety needs. Members of staff were also trained, knowledgeable and competent to protect people from the risk of harm.

CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which applies to care services. While no applications have needed to be submitted, proper policies and procedures were in place. Relevant staff have been trained to understand when an application should be made, and how to submit one.

There was a sufficient number of trained and supervised staff employed to provide people with consistent, safe and appropriate support and care.

Is the service effective?

People's choices and decisions about their support and care were respected and valued. People told us that they were actively consulted about their support, care and their individual preferences, and said that these were respected.

Improvements could be made to ask people how they would like to be looked after and treated, when they approached the end stage of their life. We have suggested that the provider takes action to improve the quality of assessing and recording people's end-of-life care wishes.

Where people may not have had the mental capacity to make valid decisions about their support and care, the provider made sure that people had a formal assessment carried out to confirm this.

The standard of support and care had enabled people to independently live at home. A relative of one of the people who used the service said, '(My relative's care) is going very well. Everything is very nice.'

Is the service caring?

People who we spoke with said that they liked the members of staff and how they were being looked after. One of the people who we spoke with said that the staff engaged with them in a social way and said, 'This is what I like.'

Is the service responsive?

People's needs, choices and personal preferences had been assessed and acted on. Members of staff demonstrated to us how they respected people's choices and decisions about their support and care. One of the people who used the service said, 'I tell staff where I want to go and they take me.'

People's individual social and health care needs were responded to. People were enabled to stay living at home because their support and care needs were met.

Is the service well-led?

There were monitoring and reviewing systems in place to ensure that people were provided with safe and appropriate care.

People who used the service were provided with opportunities to make suggestions and comments to improve the quality of their support and care. Surveys were carried out for people to complete and they were asked for their views during reviews of their support and care.

Spot checks were carried out on members of staff but improvements could be made to ensure that all staff receive this form of supervision. We have suggested that the provider takes action to ensure that the standard and quality of all members of staff's work is monitored and reviewed by means of spot checks.

Senior members of staff had carried out audits to check that people were protected from unsafe support and care.

Members of staff told us that they had the training and support to safely do their job, which they said they enjoyed. They also were made aware of the managers of the service who they could speak with, if they had the need for additional advice and support.

Members of staff were enabled to make suggestions and take actions to improve the standard and quality of people's support and care.

People told us that they were involved in the planning of their care and support. One person told us that they, 'Feel involved.' Another person went on to tell us that staff, 'Treat (me) with respect.'

Staff had access to detailed care and support records to ensure that they provided people with appropriate and individual care and support.

People using the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

Effective staff recruitment was in place to make sure that people received safe care and support from suitable and knowledgeable staff.

The provider had quality assurance procedures in place for monitoring the quality of the service delivered to ensure that people consistently received safe care and support.