This was an announced inspection which took place on 20 April 2017. Two days before our inspection we contacted the service and told them of our plans to carry out a comprehensive inspection. This was because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be at the office.

Yourlife (Prestwich) is a Domiciliary Care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. The service is based in an assisted living complex which contains 48 apartments. People live independently in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were five people using the regulated services of personal care. This was the first inspection of this service.

The service has a registered manager who was present on the day of our inspection. 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.

All the people we spoke with were positive about the registered manager and the way they ran the service. We spoke with the registered manager throughout our inspection and found them to be confident, enthusiastic and passionate about providing a person centred service. Staff we spoke with shared this enthusiasm and commitment to providing good person centred care.

People who used the service told us they felt safe. Policies and procedures were in place to safeguard people from abuse and staff had received training in safeguarding adults. Staff were able to tell us how to identify and respond to allegations of abuse. They were also aware of the responsibility to ‘whistle blow’ on colleagues who they thought might be delivering poor care to people.

There was a safe system of recruitment in place which helped protect people who used the service from unsuitable staff. Staff received the induction, training, support and supervision they required to ensure they had the skills and knowledge needed to carry out their roles effectively.

People we spoke with told us the service was reliable. They told us they had never had a missed visit and they always received the support they needed at the time it had been arranged. Visits were planned well; staff had enough time to provide people with the support they required. There was a call system, which enabled people who used the service to call for assistance if it was needed to in-between visits.

There was a safe system in place for managing people’s medicines.

Individual and environmental risk assessments were person centred and gave staff guidance on how to minimise and manage identified risks. The service had policies to guide staff on health and safety and infection control.

Whilst Yourlife (Prestwich) is a domiciliary care service provided in peoples own apartments, the complex also has communal areas including a lounge and dining area. We found these to be very well presented, spacious, with modern furnishings and fittings and decorated to a very high standard.

Care records were detailed and person centred. They described people in positive ways and included information on how to promote peoples independence, including things the person liked to do for themselves. They contained information based on people’s needs and wishes and were sufficiently detailed to guide staff in how to provide the support people required. We saw that people who used the service had been involved in the reviews.

People in their own homes are not subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards DoLS. However, staff were trained in the Mental Capacity Act MCA and DoLS to ensure they were aware of the principles. People who used the service told us they were consulted about the care provided and staff always sought their consent before providing support.

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