Select Support Partnerships Ltd - Blackburn

Select Support Partnerships Ltd Blackburn is registered to provide both supported living services and domiciliary care services to people who require personal care. The service was not providing domiciliary care at the time of the inspection. The service provides support to younger adults and older people with a physical disability, sensory impairment, learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 33 people using this service. The service supported people across 10 sites in their own homes.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. However, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice as consent forms were not always signed by the person or their advocate. We made a recommendation about this. There were enough skilled and experienced staff to safely care for people and recruitment processes were safe. We were assured IPC practices were safe. Staff supported people to maintain a healthy diet and encouraged people to prepare meals. People were supported to enjoy a range of activities by staff who knew them well .

Right Care

Medicines were being administered safely and although we identified shortfalls, these were rectified during the inspection process. People’s needs were assessed prior to them starting to use the service and these assessments were used to develop person centred risk assessments and support plans. People were treated well and their privacy and dignity was protected. People were encouraged to achieve their goals and felt included in their care planning. Although nobody at the service was receiving end of life care, records identified people’s advanced decisions.

Right Culture

The registered manager understood the duty of candour. However, we found incidents that should have been reported had been overlooked. The lessons learnt procedure could be more robust. We made a recommendation about the provider’s governance systems. Audits were in place and the registered manager carried out spot checks. Staff attended regular meetings and service users were invited to attend drop-in sessions where they could express their views about the care they received. The service worked well with a number of other professionals to ensure continued learning and information sharing. Staff were aware of the safeguarding procedures and felt comfortable raising concerns should they need to. People’s communication needs were considered and there was a complaints procedure in place.

For more details, please see the full report for Select Support Partnerships Ltd Blackburn which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 20 October 2017)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Recommendations

We have made recommendations in relation to consent and governance.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Select Support Partnerships (referred to throughout the report as Select Support) is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service specialises in providing support to people with a learning disability or who have mental health needs. Support is provided both to individuals and to people living in small group settings in Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire and Wigan. At the time of our inspection there were 74 people using the service.

The provider had a registered manager in place as required by the conditions of their registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 told us they had no concerns about their safety when they received support from staff employed by Select Support. They told us staff always treated them with respect and supported them to develop their independent living skills. Recruitment processes were sufficiently robust to protect people from the risks of unsuitable staff

Staff had received training in safeguarding adults. They were aware of the procedure to follow should they witness or suspect abuse. They told us they would also be confident to report any poor practice they observed from colleagues and were confident their concerns would be taken seriously by the registered manager.

People who received support from staff to take their prescribed medicines told us they had no concerns about this. We saw appropriate systems were in place to help ensure the safe handling of medicines.

Risk assessments were in place in relation to each individual’s mental health needs as well as any environmental risks; these helped to protect the health and welfare of people who used the service and staff. Arrangements were in place to help ensure the prevention and control of infection.

Staff told us they received the induction, training and supervision they needed to be able to deliver safe and effective care. The induction programme in place included training in safeguarding adults and children, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, equality and diversity, first aid and fire safety. Staff were also required to complete a period of shadowing more experienced staff before they were allowed to work independently without close supervision.

The provider was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Staff were able to tell us how they supported people to make their own decisions and choices. A range of communication tools were used by staff to help people engage in discussions about their care and support.

Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and goals. They demonstrated a commitment to providing high quality care which was personalised and tailored to the needs of each individual. People who used the service told us they were always able to make changes to their support plan should their needs or interests change.

There were numerous opportunities for people who used the service to comment on the support they received. We noted the responses in the provider’s most recent satisfaction survey were all very positive. A number of compliments about the positive impact of the service had also been received from relatives and professionals involved in people’s care.

Staff we spoke with told us they enjoyed working in the service and that the registered manager was supportive and approachable. Regular staff meetings meant that staff were able to make suggestions about how the service could be improved. Staff told us their views were always listened to.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The registered manager demonstrated a clear commitment to continuing to drive forward improvements in the service.

Plans of care were detailed for staff to follow and were reviewed regularly to keep their care up to date. Families were also kept informed of any changes to be able to support their relative.

Staff told us they were well trained. Records we looked at showed staff received an induction, received regular training and could bring up topics they thought would support them at supervision.

There was a complaints procedure and the service responded appropriately to concerns or safeguarding issues.

Three people who used the service said, "I do some things for myself but they help me with other things. I like to go out and they help me to do that", "I have a good social life. I like to go out to restaurants" and "I look after myself, staff support me rather than do everything. It's my choice what I do". People who used the service told us they were encouraged to live independent lives and were encouraged to be part of the local community.

People told us they appreciated staff and said, "The staff are very good with me. I get the same staff and they are very reliable", "I am very happy with the staff who come here" and "The staff are very good".

Two staff members told us they felt "supported" and "well trained" to be able to meet peoples' needs.