About the service: La Vie en Rose is a domiciliary care agency providing a range of care and support services to older people, people with disabilities, complex needs and health conditions living in Gloucestershire.

La Vie en Rose provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and was providing a service to 50 people at the time of our inspection.

People's experience of using this service:

• People’s independence was respected and promoted.

• People's support focused on them having opportunities to maintain existing relationships.

• People received a consistent level of care from a team of regular care workers. There were enough staff employed to meet people's needs.

• Staff understood how to communicate with people effectively to ascertain and respect their wishes.

• People were empowered to decide how and when their care was provided. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible, the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

• People were supported to access other health services when needed.

• Care plans provided staff with information about people’s preferences and ways in which staff could support people emotionally and with the activities they enjoyed.

• Safe recruitment practices were followed to protect people from unsuitable staff.

• People were protected from abuse and harassment.

• People received appropriate support to take their medicines safely as and when required.

• The provider arranged training for staff that met the needs of people using the service. Staff competency was assessed which helped to ensure they were safe to work with people.

• The provider had ensured there was effective oversight and governance of the service. The service manager worked alongside staff to ensure that any issues were managed and priorities in relation to the quality of support were identified and acted upon promptly.

Rating at last inspection: We last inspected La Vie en Rose on 17 and 24 May 2017. At the last inspection the service was rated as Good (this report was published on 30 June 2017).

The overall rating for the service has remained Good.

Why we inspected: We inspected this service as part of our ongoing Adult Social Care inspection programme. This was a planned inspection based on the previous Good rating. Previous CQC ratings and the time since the last inspection were also taken into consideration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is at the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This inspection took place on 17 and 24 May 2017 and was announced. La Vie En Rose (formally known to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as Dale House) provides domiciliary care services to people who live in their own home in Tewkesbury and areas around Cheltenham and Gloucester. At the time of our inspection there were 66 people with a variety of care needs, including older people, people living with physical disabilities and people living with dementia using the service. La Vie En Rose also provides support services to people which are not regulated by CQC.

We last inspected in May 2016. At the May 2016 inspection we found that the provider was not meeting all of the requirements of the regulations at that time. We found that people were at risk of not always receiving person-centred care as there was not always effective communication within the service. Additionally, the service did not always have robust systems to monitor the quality of service they provided. The service did not always keep an accurate and current record of the care and treatment people received. At our May 2017 inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was meeting the regulations.

There was a manager in post, however as the provider is registered as a sole provider they do not require their manager to be registered with the CQC. 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 told us they felt listened to and could not fault the care they received. People were cared for by care staff who were supported by the manager and provider. Staff had access to professional development. The manager and provider knew the needs of staff and had systems to ensure staff had access to the training and support they needed.

The manager and provider had systems to monitor the quality of service people received. The systems enabled the manager and provider to identify concerns and drive improvements.

Records in relation to people’s ability to consent to their care, or where their representatives could make legal decisions on their behalf were not always effectively recorded. We have made a recommendation to the provider regarding this issue.

This inspection took place on 19 and 31 May 2016 and was announced. Dale House provides domiciliary care services to people who live in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 50 people with a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia using the service.

We last inspected in October 2015. At the October 2015 inspection we found that the provider was not meeting all of the requirements of the regulations at that time. The provider did not always ensure staff were of good character before they started working at the service and people’s care plans were not always current and accurate. Additionally, the service’s quality assurance systems did not always enable them to identify and improve on concerns raised at the service. At the October 2015 we also made recommendations to the service regarding staff training. The provider had taken action to ensure staff were of good character and received effective training.

The service does not have a registered manager, and does not require one, as the registered provider is in sole charge of the service. 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.

People's needs were assessed and any risks in relation to their care were identified. Since our last inspection in October 2015, the provider ensured care staff had clear guidance on how to care for people. However, this guidance was not always personalised to people’s needs and did not reflect people’s preferences.

The provider had developed more systems to identify and areas for improvement and gather feedback from people or their relatives. However, these systems were not always effective in identifying areas of improvement and improving on them. A new manager had been recruited by the provider and they had started a service improvement plan aimed to develop the service.

People, their relatives and healthcare professionals discussed concerns around communication, which had a potential risk to the care their relatives received.

The service does not have a registered manager, and does not require one, as the registered provider is in sole charge of the service. 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.

People were complimentary about the care and support they received. People spoke highly about the care staff and where relevant spoke positively about the caring relationships they had developed with staff. People and their relatives spoke positively about the skills of the care staff and felt staff were well trained.

There was a positive caring culture, promoted by the provider. Staff were passionate about providing high quality care and enjoyed supporting people. Care staff felt supported by the provider, who they described as approachable and supportive.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and had access to the training they needed to meet people’s needs. Staff had access to team meetings and one to one meetings with their manager. All staff had access to professional development.

People told us they received their care visits when they expected and that care staff stayed to provide care as they expected. Where necessary people and their relatives told us the service was responsive to their needs.

The service was responsive to people's changing needs and made sure people had their visits when they needed. People and their relatives were involved in planning their or their relative’s care. Staff were trained to identify concerns or changes with people's needs.

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

This inspection took place on 12 and 15 October 2015 and was announced. Dale House provides domiciliary care services to people who live in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people with a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia using the service.

The service does not have a registered manager, and does not require one, as the registered provider is in sole charge of the service. 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.

People were complimentary about the care and support they received. People spoke highly about the care staff and valued having care staff who enabled them to build caring relationships. People and their relatives spoke positively about the skills of the care staff and felt staff were efficient and well trained.

There was a positive caring culture, promoted by the provider. Staff were passionate about providing high quality care and enjoyed supporting people. Care staff felt supported by the provider, describing them as approachable and supportive.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and had access to the training they needed to meet people’s needs. Staff felt supported however they did not always receive supervision (one to one meetings with their line manager) which may limit their professional development.

People told us they received their care visits. However, the provider had not always ensured staff were of good character before they provided care to people in their own homes.

People's needs were assessed and any risks in relation to their care were identified. However, there was not always clear guidance for care staff to follow to ensure people’s needs were met. People’s care plans did not always reflect people’s current needs.

The service was responsive to people's changing needs and made sure people had their visits when they needed. People and their relatives were involved in planning their or their relative’s care. Staff were trained to identify concerns or changes with people's needs.

There were systems in place to enable the provider to gather feedback from people or their relatives. Effective quality assurance systems were not in place to enable the provider to identify areas for improvement.

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.