About the service:

Livingstone Court is a residential care service which is located near to the centre of the coastal town of Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. The service provides a transitional environment for up to 13 people who have needs related to learning disabilities. The overall aim of the service is to enable people to experience living in their own self-contained accommodation, with access to the residential care support assessed as needed, with the aim to enable people to be as independent as possible. It is part of the larger organisation of Linkage Community Trust and is supported by a team of regional and head office staff.

The service worked within the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensured that people could live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.

There were 10 people living at the service at the time of this inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

•People continued to receive safe care. Staff understood how to keep people safe from harm and risk assessments were in place to help people and staff manage potential risks within people's day to day lives, whilst also promoting their independence.

•There were enough staff who had the right knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs in a personalised way.

•People were supported to have access to a varied and nutritious diet and the information and support they needed from staff and external healthcare professionals enabled people to consistently maintain their health.

•Staff were caring and people were treated with respect and kindness.

•People were supported to have choice and control of their lives, to be involved in reviewing their care and to be at the centre of making decisions about any changes to the way care was provided.

•People had access to a wide range of work and leisure activities of their choice and were supported to maintain any interests or hobbies they had.

•People, their circle of support and staff had a say in how the service was being run and there was an open and inclusive culture within the service.

•The registered providers governance systems continued to ensure any shortfalls in the service were addressed in a timely and responsive way.

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

Rating at last inspection:

Livingstone Court was last inspected on 28 July 2016 (report published on the 1 September 2016) and was rated as good overall.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained rated good overall.

Follow up:

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

We carried out this announced inspection on 28 July 2016.

Livingstone Court is a residential care service which is located near to the centre of the coastal town of Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. The home provides a transitional environment for up to 13 people who have needs related to learning disabilities. In addition to individual rooms there are three single occupancy bungalows and five single occupancy and two double occupancy flats which make up the home. Each flat is self-contained. The overall aim of the service is to enable people to experience living in their own accommodation with support and so they can be as independent as they wish to be. It is part of the larger organisation of Linkage Community Trust and is supported by a team of regional and head office staff. Eleven people were living at the home on the day of our inspection visit.

There was a registered manager in place at the home. 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 living at the home benefited from the support of sufficient numbers of staff, who were well trained, supported and felt valued in their work. Staff were caring and supportive and treated people as individuals. The care provided was sensitive and person centred and people’s privacy, dignity and wishes were consistently respected. Friends and relatives were welcome to visit as and when they wished. Staff knew how to support people’s needs without restricting their freedom and people were supported to be as independent as possible.

Staff knew how to respond to any concerns that might arise regarding people’s safety and when it had been needed the provider worked together with health and social care professionals to report on and act on any concerns they had identified. People’s medicines were managed safely and staff worked with people in ways which helped to reduce the risk of accidents. There were enough staff on duty to provide the support people needed and background checks had been completed before any new staff were appointed.

Staff had received training and guidance and they knew how to care for people in the right way including how to respond to people who had different communication needs. People had access to the food and drinks they enjoyed and wherever needed staff provided support to ensure people’s individual dietary preferences were met. People also had access to the community on a daily basis and often chose to eat out.

People had regular access to health and social care professionals whenever they needed to see them and they were supported to attend any appointments they had.

People’s rights were respected and they were supported to make decisions and choices for themselves wherever possible in line with legal guidance. CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves. The manager and staff understood the legal safeguards set out within the MCA and followed them when people needed any additional help to make their own decisions and choices. At the time of this inspection no-one who lived at Livingstone Court was subject to restrictions under DoLS guidance and the manager and staff knew how to apply for authorisations if there was a need.

People their relatives and staff could voice their views and opinions. The manager listened and took action to resolve any issues or concerns identified. Formal systems were in place for handling and resolving complaints. The register

We looked at four people’s care records which included their care plans, risk assessments and health plans.

We saw each person’s care plan contained a section called ‘All About Me’ which covered topics such as “What’s important to me now?” and “What’s important to me in the future?”

People told us they felt safe at Livingstone Court. One person said, “Yes, I feel safe here, the staff are really good at listening. I would have no problems telling staff if there was anything wrong.”

We spoke with one person living at Livingstone Court who told us, “I cook for myself every day, curry is my favourite. If I’m not sure about how to cook something I will get one of the staff to come and check.”

We looked around Livingstone Court and observed a good overall standard of cleanliness. It was also free from mal odour. We saw people’s rooms were clean and communal areas were clean and tidy. One person told us, “I clean my flat every day.”

We asked one member of staff for their opinion on the staffing levels, they said, “The staff level is absolutely spot on.”

People told us they knew how to complain. One person said, “If I want to complain, I know I can always talk to the manager.”

Everyone we spoke with spoke positively about the staff and felt they fully supported their care needs. People told us staff spoke with them in a calm and respectful manner. One person said, "Staff are helpful." Another person told us staff were always on duty and said, "I can go to the office at any time day or night and staff will be there."

The people we spoke with told us their care was personalised to their need. People's preferred names were used. They told us they knew staff kept records on them and had seen those records and discussed the content. One person said, "I can see my notes at any time."

People told us they felt safe and if they were concerned about anything they would discuss it with a family member, a friend or a staff member. One person said. "I feel safe." People confirmed their views were sought through regular meetings with staff and by questionnaires. This was confirmed by the records we reviewed.