Huntingdon Supported Living Scheme

Updated 28 February 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in two ‘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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 20 January 2020 and ended on 29 January 2020. We visited the office location on 20 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the operations manager, registered manager, employment skills worker, a senior support worker, and a support worker.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s care records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

After the inspection on 29 January 2020 we received feedback from two professionals who worked with the service.

Updated 28 February 2020

About the service

Huntingdon Supported Living Scheme is a supported living service providing personal care to 12 adults with physical and learning disabilities and autism.

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.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

Staff were flexible and responsive to people’s individual needs and preferences. Often finding effective, creative, and innovative ways to help people live a full a life as possible. Staff enabled people to exercise their choices, ambitions, their human rights and to follow their interests both within the service and the wider community. Engagement in activities and support networks outside of the service was an important part of people’s lives. People had busy social lives and took part in a wide range of pastimes and voluntary work. Staff were willing to try anything to help people live rewarding lives and develop the life skills they needed and wanted to become as independent as possible.

The registered manager and their staff team linked up, communicated and worked with other organisations and health professionals to ensure people’s well-being. This included working with different services to enable people to go on holiday and still receive health care or when moving between different care services.

Staff at the service were not risk adverse, when supporting a person’s rights. 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. Where people had been assessed as lacking mental capacity legal restrictions had been applied for, agreed and put in place as guidance for staff.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

Staff followed systems in place to monitor and manage people’s risks and keep people safe from poor care and avoidable harm. Staff were trained in infection control and helped people keep the service clean. Staff were working with external health professionals and current guidance to try to reduce the number of medicines people were on. People were supported safely with their medicines. Competency checks reviewed staff’s ability to manage this support task safely.

Checks were completed on potential new staff to help make sure they were suitable to work with the people they supported. Staff received an induction, mandatory training, competency checks and supervisions to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff were supported to give people a high-quality service. Checks were made to monitor the quality of care being given including provider visits to the service. Any actions required were either completed or on-going.

Staff treated the people they supported kindly. People had positive opinions of the staff who cared for them. Staff promoted and maintained people’s privacy and dignity when supporting them.

Staff supported people to follow a balanced diet and people, where possible were involved in making decisions about their care. People’s preferences on how staff delivered their care was recorded in care records. People had plans in place for the end of their life and these were understood by the staff team.

Complaints were investigated and resolved where practicable. People knew how to raise any concerns. The registered manager gave people, their relatives and staff, opportunities to give their view of the service and from this feedback action was taken to make any improvements.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report published 29 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.