This inspection took place on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 June, 2017. The inspection was announced.

Lifeways Inclusive Lifestyles Ltd is registered to provide domiciliary care to people who have learning disabilities and complex needs. They provide support to seven people in two separate shared houses. Each person within the shared house has their own separate tenancy agreements and are supported by staff 24 hours a day.

A registered manager was in post at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

The registered manager had a number of different systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the homes, ensuring that people were receiving safe, compassionate and effective care. Such systems included weekly, monthly, annual audits and the relevant health and safety and infection control checks.

We have made a recommendation to the provider about seeking and gathering the views of others as a way to maintain and improve the standard and quality of care being provided.

Staff were knowledgeable around the area of safeguarding procedures and knew how to report any concerns. All staff we spoke with were able to explain who they would report their concerns to and what actions to take. Staff had completed safeguarding training and there was a safeguarding policy in place.

All care files contained individual care plans and risk assessments which were regularly reviewed and updated in order to minimise risk. Care plans were person centred and contained a detailed amount of information in relation to a person’s wishes, choices and preferences.

Risk assessments were in place for all seven people who lived at the two shared homes. The assessments offered key information about significant areas of risk and how such situations would need to be managed for the safety of everyone living in the homes.

There was a significant amount of emphasis on person centred care and support for people. ‘Person centred’ care means that the service tailors its approach to the care which needs to be provided to suit the needs of the person and not the needs of the organisation. People were supported to be independent and were encouraged to actively manage their own lives as much as possible.

Recruitment was safely and effectively managed. Staff personnel files which were reviewed during the inspection demonstrated that effective recruitment practices were in place. This meant that all staff who were working at the homes had suitable and sufficient references and disclosure and barring system checks (DBS) in place. DBS checks ensure that staff who are employed to care and support people are suitable to work within a health and social care setting. This enables the registered manager to assess level of suitability for working with vulnerable adults.

Medication was administered safely by staff who had received the appropriate training. Medication records were accurate, medication audits were conducted on a weekly basis, systems were in place to order repeat medication, dispose of medication as well having the correct storage procedures in place.

Accidents and incidents were routinely recorded on an internal database system. These were discussed as part of team meetings and routinely analysed as a measure to explore if lessons could be learnt.

The registered provider operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We were provided with information in relation to capacity assessments and processes which were in place to make decisions in a person’s best interest. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in