T Lives Healthcare Ltd

T Lives Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our assessment, the provider supported 2 people.

The provider did not always have effective systems to ensure people received safe, effective and consistently responsive care. Care plans, risk assessments and medicines records contained gaps, inaccuracies and contradictory information. Staff did not always have clear written guidance about how known health conditions and risks should be monitored, managed or escalated. Consent arrangements were not consistently evidenced, and contingency and emergency plans did not always explain how people’s support would continue safely when circumstances changed or regular staff were unavailable.

Governance and quality assurance systems had not identified or addressed these concerns before our assessment. This increased the risk staff would not have reliable information and that people could receive unsafe or inconsistent care. The service was in breach of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and good governance.

Despite these concerns, people and relatives were generally positive about their care. They described regular staff as caring, respectful and supportive. People felt safe, were treated with dignity and were supported to make choices, maintain their independence, and follow routines that were important to them. Staff understood safeguarding and escalation procedures and worked with relatives and health and social care professionals when people’s needs changed.

The provider responded to our feedback by introducing new audits, risk assessments, medicines reviews, contingency plans and service improvement processes. However, these changes were recent, and there was not yet sufficient evidence they were embedded or had resulted in sustained improvement.

At this assessment, we identified 2 breaches of legal regulation relating to safe care and treatment and good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.