About the service: Your Life (Northallerton) is an extra care housing facility. They provide personal care support to people in their own homes. The service was providing personal care to five people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

People at Your Life (Northallerton) lived in apartments that were situated in the grounds. People had access to a restaurant, communal areas and a garden.

People’s experience of using this service: People told us they were happy and felt staff had an excellent understanding of their care and support needs. Support was delivered in safe way by staff who had the skills, knowledge and relevant training.

People received support at a time they preferred from a consistent team of staff. They were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was promoted. Staff understood the importance of social interaction and this was encouraged.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Choices people made were respected.

Systems were in place to continuously monitor and improve to ensure people received a good quality service. People were clearly at the heart of everything and regular feedback on the service provided was requested. People described a high level of satisfaction with the service provided.

People and staff spoke positively of the management team. The service was well-run by a registered manager who was passionate about ensuring people received the support they required. There were good links with the local community and other professionals to promote and improve people’s health.

More information is in the Detailed Findings section below. For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated Good. (Report published 3 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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.

Your Life (Northallerton) is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides services to people living within the McCarthy and Stone Malpas Court assisted living development, which is located in Northallerton close to the town centre and local amenities. The assisted living development consists of retirement flats, which people purchase, and communal facilities, including a restaurant. The Your Life (Northallerton) office is located within the assisted living development. At the time of our inspection five people were receiving personal care services.

The service had a registered manager who had been registered with the Care Quality Commission since July 2014. 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 using the service told us they received a safe service. Staff knew how to report any concerns about people’s welfare and had confidence in the registered manager taking appropriate action. People had individual risk assessments in place which ensured staff were aware of the risks relevant to each person’s care.

Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff available to provide the care people needed. People told us the care staff were reliable, on time and did what was expected without rushing.

Staff assisted people with their medicines safely, if this was part of their agreed plan of care. We saw that there had been an improvement in the records relating to medicine administration since our last visit.

Staff were supported to have the skills and knowledge they needed through relevant training. Staff felt well supported and arrangements for staff supervision and appraisal had improved since our last visit.

The service was following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. At the time of the inspection no-one had needed to be referred to the Court of Protection because of deprivation of liberty concerns.

People told us that they were well cared for and treated with dignity and respect by staff. Staff could describe how they maintained people’s confidentiality, privacy and dignity.

Care staff knew people well and were able to describe people’s individual needs. People had their needs assessed and had care plans in place. We saw examples of people’s care being adapted and changed in recognition of their changing needs and to help them maintain independence.

People lived in their own homes, but had access to activities at Maplas Court and in their local community. There were facilities available at Malpas Court to enable relatives and friends to stay if they wished.

A complaints procedure was in place and information about this was provided to people who used the service. People were encouraged to provide feedback through ‘homeowners’ meetings, feedback forms, reviews and surveys.

The registered manager and staff were committed to providing good, individual care to people. Audits and checks were completed to help ensure that people received a quality service. We found that there had been an improvement in governance systems since our last visit.

We undertook an announced inspection of Yourlife Northallerton on 10 March 2015. We told the provider one day before our visit that we would be visiting. This was due to the nature of the service and to ensure people who used the service and staff were available to assist us with the inspection.

At the time of our inspection three people were receiving a personal care service.

Yourlife Northallerton was registered in July 2011, the service provides personal care services for older people living in their own homes, within a McCarthy and Stone Assisted Living Development. The Your Life (Northallerton) office is located at the Malpas Court development, near the centre of Northallerton. The Malpas Court development consists of a complex of retirement flats which people purchase, they can be supported by a number of services if they wish, there are communal areas and facilities, including a restaurant.

At our last inspection in May 2013 the service was meeting the regulations inspected.

The service had a registered manager who had been registered with the Care Quality Commission since July 2014. 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.

There were processes in place to help make sure people were protected from the risk of abuse and staff were aware of safeguarding vulnerable adults procedures.

Assessments were undertaken of risks to people who used the service and staff. Written plans were in place to manage these risks. There were processes for recording accidents and incidents. We saw that appropriate action was taken in response to incidents to maintain the safety of people who used the service.

People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments although we were told this was rare.

Robust recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work. This included obtaining references from previous employers and we saw evidence that a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check had been completed before they started work in the home. The Disclosure and Barring Service carry out a criminal record and barring check on individuals who intend to work with children and vulnerable adults. To help employers make safer recruiting decisions and also to prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults. Photographic identification was not apparent in all the files we looked at. We discussed this with the registered manger who was aware this was needed.

Staff did not receive regular training to ensure they had up to date information to undertake their roles and responsibilities. The registered manager had recognised that staff needed to receive regular training, so they were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. There were gaps in required training such as Mental Capacity Act 2005, food hygiene and infection control.

Staff were not provided with regular supervision and appraisals.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported. People told us they liked the staff and looked forward to the staff coming to their apartments. There was evidence that people were involved in making decisions about their care and the support they received.

People were supported to eat and drink. The onsite restaurant provided lunch time meals for people who lived there. Staff encouraged people to access the community and this reduced the risk of people becoming socially isolated.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity as well as encouraging independence.

People were supported to take their medicines by being prompted or assisted. Each persons required needs were documented in their care plans. Medication administration records were not fully completed, dates were missing and there were gaps with no explanation as to why.

We saw that the service’s complaints process was included in information given to people when they started receiving care. The complaints policy was due for review 31 December 2012, this had not happened. The policy detailed steps that were to be taken if a complaint was made with a flow chart. We saw the service had received one complaint in April 2014, this was dealt with appropriately.

Although the area manager did monthly audits, no action plan was put in place, therefore each month the same issues were occurring.

We found two breach’s of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. These regulations were replaced by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in April 2015. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

At the time of this review the service was only providing personal care services to a very small number of people. This was expected to increase as more people purchase flats and people's needs change over time. During our visit we spoke with two people who used or had used the service, a relative, a member of care staff, the duty manager and the receptionist.

People who used this service and the relative we spoke with, told us that they had been consulted about the care and support they wanted and that their care service had been reliable and consistent. People also said that they had been happy with the way their care and support was carried out. Comments made to us included “Whatever I needed they were happy to do”, “They didn’t make you feel awkward at all” and “They were very reliable.”

We found that appropriate systems were in place for assessing, planning and reviewing people’s care needs. This included involving people in making decisions about their care. Systems were also in place to provide help with medication, should this need arise.

Staff had been recruited in a safe and thorough way. They had also been provided with a suitable induction and encouraged to undertake a recognised care qualification, if they didn’t already have one.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and ensure that people were receiving safe and suitable care. This included seeking feedback from people who were using the service.

At the time of this compliance review the service was only providing personal care services to a very small number of people, but expects this to increase as more people purchase flats and people’s needs change over time.

People who use the service told us that they were happy with the care they were receiving. For example, people told us ‘if we want anything they do it’, ‘they are exceptionally helpful the staff’ and ‘very flexible’. People also felt that the staff were reliable, friendly, polite and respectful. For example, one person told us that ‘they can tailor their attitude to whoever they talk too’.

Staff told us that they felt well supported and had been given a good level of induction training. For example, staff told us ‘ they (management) are always there at the end of the phone’, ‘it (induction training) was all very good’ and ‘I feel supported, any problems I can go to any other member of staff and they’ll help me’.