YourLife (Northampton) improved from Requires Improvement to Good overall following a focused inspection of Safe and Well-Led, with Safe rated Good due to robust safeguarding, risk management, medicines handling and staffing. Well-Led remained Requires Improvement due to the absence of a registered manager and inconsistent quality monitoring audits that failed to identify record-keeping gaps.
Concerns (4)
moderateGovernance: “the monthly quality monitoring checks of the service had not consistently taken place”
moderateRecord keeping: “regular audits were completed by deputy managers, this process had not always identified gaps or inconsistencies in record keeping”
moderate
Leadership
: “There was no registered manager in place at the time of the inspection, a manager had been recruited who was planning to register with the Care Quality Commission.”
minorStaff competency: “we found some short unexplained gaps in staff work history, there was no evidence this had impacted on people's safety”
Strengths
· People felt safe and staff demonstrated good knowledge in recognising and reporting abuse
· Individualised risk assessments completed and reviewed regularly with positive risk-taking supported
· Sufficient staffing levels with no missed calls and visits at preferred times
· Medicines managed safely by trained and competency-checked staff
· Effective infection prevention controls including PPE supply and COVID-19 testing
Quality-Statement breakdown (11)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsRequires improvement
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service; continuous learning and improving careGood