Background to this inspection
Updated
8 March 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
Two inspectors and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The Expert by Experience made telephone calls to relatives.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people with a learning disability living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
Registered manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there were 4 registered managers in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service short notice of the inspection. This was to enable the management team to provide the documentation we needed to undertake the inspection.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.
This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We observed staff providing care and support to 10 people using the service in 4 different properties and spoke with 9 people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff and received email feedback from 3 staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people’s care records and various medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were reviewed.
We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
8 March 2023
About the service
The service is a supported living service, providing support to people living in their own tenancies. 53 people were using the service at the time of the inspection
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support
Staff provided support to identify people’s aspirations and goals and assist people to plan how these would be met. Staff demonstrated a good level of understanding of people’s strengths and promoted what they could do. Some staff at the service had worked with people for many years.
Where possible, people had choices about their living environment and had made decisions about décor and how their properties were set out. For some people, who were not able to communicate their preferences, staff used what they knew about people to create an environment that they believed would reflect their wishes.
Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision making.
People used their local communities with staff support where required. This included using leisure and social facilities, and participating in work where achievable.
Right Care
Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. Staff engaged with people in a respectful and compassionate manner. One relative described their loved one as “well looked after and happy.” Another said: “The team are very caring.”
Staff understood how to protect people from abuse. The service worked with other agencies to do so. Staff had received safeguarding training and could describe the principals of it.
People could take part in activities and keep in touch with people who were important to them. They were supported to develop and maintain meaningful friendships and relationships in the wider community. Most of the relatives we spoke with confirmed this.
Right culture
Feedback was regularly sought from people, although a small number of relatives told us they did not always feel engaged and felt there was a high turnover of staff and managers. The majority of relatives did not share this view and told us they were as engaged as they wished to be.
Staff and managers ensured the quality and safety of the service had been fully assessed to ensure people were safe. Safe recruitment practices were followed. Staff knew and understood people well. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.