This inspection was announced and took place on 19, 20 and 26 July 2017. Lifeways Community Care Limited (Nottingham) is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to adults in their own homes. The support people received ranged from short visits to 24 hour care depending on people’s needs. On the day of our inspection 53 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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 could not be fully assured that the administration of medicines were safe as staff had not always followed policies and procedures and this had not been identified during safety checks in one part of the service.

The risks to people were identified and assessed and people were supported to maintain their nutrition and healthcare.

People were protected from the risk of abuse from staff who were knowledgeable of how to respond if they suspected abuse. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who received support and training to carry out their roles effectively and had been recruited safely.

People were supported to make independent decisions where they were able although documentation to ensure people who were not able to make their own decisions were being supported in their best interests required some improvement.

People were supported by caring and kind staff who respected people’s homes and demonstrated the values of privacy and dignity. People were given support to understand information and express their views.

People received personalised care from staff who were knowledgeable about their needs and preferences. People had support plans in place and were supported to maintain their independence and achieve their goals.

People were encouraged to provide feedback and were involved in the running and development of the service. Staff felt supported by the management team.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service which were effective in identifying issues although timely action had not always been taken when improvements were identified.

Immediate action was taken following our feedback by the registered manager to improve systems and clarify expectations with staff.