The inspection activity at Lifeways Community Care was announced and took place on 5 and 6 November 2018. This is the first inspection of this service since it changed locations and re-registered in 2017.

We gave the provider 48 hours' notice because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available for the inspection. It also allowed us to arrange to speak with people receiving the service.

The service is registered for the provision of personal care in people's own homes. This includes support with personal care, such as assistance with bathing, dressing, eating and medicines. We call this type of service a 'supported living' service. At the time of this inspection the service supported 55 people living in seven different premises, including single occupancy and shared occupancy properties, 37 out of 55 people received a regulated activity.

People's accommodation was provided by separate landlords, usually on a rental or lease arrangement. The service was only responsible for the provision of personal care and not for the provision of the seven premises. People who used the service had a wide range of cognitive impairment and/or other support needs, ranging from mild to severe learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorders. Some of the people had very complex support needs and required support from the service 24 hours a day. Other people were more independent and received support for just a few hours a day to help with their daily routines.

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.

The provider had appointed a new manager, they had been in post for four months and clearly had a commitment to improvement. Although the new manager had submitted their application to become the registered manager of Lifeways Community Care, this had not been finalised. Therefore, in this report when we speak about the registered manager, we refer to them as being, 'the new manager’. The new manager was supported by four service managers who oversaw the staff based in people’s houses or flats. For this report when we refer to the service manager we mean the direct line manger to that staff team, not the new manager.

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 told us they felt safe with staff supporting them from Lifeways. Staff understood how to recognise and report signs of abuse and there were safeguarding policies and procedures available for staff to access. Staff received safeguarding training and the new manager understood their responsibilities to raise concerns both internally and externally.

Staff carried out risk assessments that included any environmental risks in people’s homes and any risks in relation to the care and support needs of the person. There was a lone working policy and on call procedure which staff were aware of.

The provider had sufficient staff to keep people safe and their recruitment processes minimised the risk of unsuitable staff being employed. The provider obtained references and completed a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. A DBS check ensures the provider can identify people barred from working with certain groups such as vulnerable adults.

Staff followed a comprehensive medicines policy. Staff received medicines training on induction and were assessed annually to ensure they were competent and safe to manage people’s medicines. Medicines incidents were reported. Staff took further train