The inspection took place on the 15 and 18 December 2017 and was announced.

The service is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 3 people.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own apartments in the community. It provides a service to older adults. Not everyone using Yourlife Poundbury receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

Yourlife Poundbury office is situated in Bowes Lyon Court which is a McCarthy and Stone retirement living development of 62 apartments. The service provides support to people living in these apartments and staff are on site 24 hours a day. Bowes Lyon Court is a new development and included a restaurant, internal garden, library and other facilities which people living in the apartments were able to access.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 were supported safely by staff who understood the risks they faced and their role in managing these.

People received their medicines as prescribed and these were recorded accurately.

People were protected from the risk of harm by staff who understood the possible signs of abuse and how to recognise these and report any concerns.

People were supported by enough staff to provide effective, person centred support.

Staff were recruited safely with some pre-employment checks but systems needed to be improved to ensure that information about previous conduct of new staff was robust.

Staff received training and support to ensure that they had the necessary skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to make choices about all areas of their support.

Staff had training in food hygiene and infection control and understood their roles and responsibilities with regard to protecting people from the risks of infection.

Accidents, incidents and near misses were recorded and learning from these used to prevent reoccurrence and improve support provided for people.

The service ensured that people had access to health care professionals as required. People were supported to retain their independence in their own homes.

People were supported by staff who showed kindness and compassion. Staff protected people’s privacy and dignity and were respectful of people’s homes.

People were involved in reviews about their support and changes to their needs were reflected in care records.

No-one was in receipt of end of life care but there was a policy in place which included people’s preferences and wishes.

There was a complaints policy in place and people felt confident to raise any concerns.

Care records included person centred details including people’s preferences and what was important to them.

Feedback about the office was positive from people, relatives and staff and management were approachable and available.

Quality assurance measures were regular and used to identify trends and drive improvements.

Feedback systems were effective and again, used to drive changes.

Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and good practice was recognised and encouraged.

The service was aware of the importance of partnership working and understood when to seek advice or guidance