Archived: SENSE - Supported Living Services (Lincolnshire)

Sense – Supported Living Services Lincolnshire is a supported living service offering care and support to three people in their own home who are living with sight or hearing impairment and a learning disability and or autism.

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.

The service was similar to other domestic style properties in the residential area. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

The Secretary of State has asked CQC to conduct a thematic review and to make recommendations about the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide care for people with or who might have mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. Thematic reviews look in-depth at specific issues concerning quality of care across the health and social care sectors. They expand our understanding of both good and poor practice and of the potential drivers of improvement.

As part of thematic review, we carried out a survey with the registered manager at this inspection. This considered whether the service used any restrictive intervention practices (restraint, seclusion and segregation) when supporting people. The service did not use any restrictive intervention practices.

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

The culture of the service was truly person-centred and empowering. The registered manager and staff had an excellent understanding of people's needs and were committed to providing a service which met their dreams, aspirations and enabled people to live a life of their choosing. Without exception, people were supported to achieve their goals. They had made significant progress and the staff were proud of what people had accomplished and celebrated their achievements with them.

People were fully involved and included in planning all aspects of their care and reviews. Communication systems in the service were very effective and enabled people to make decisions and gain independence.

Strong community inclusion enabled people to live fulfilled and meaningful lives, through accessing a wide variety of local vocational and leisure activities and volunteering opportunities. Staff found ways to improve people's lives by introducing creative activities that provided new experiences for people and encouraged them to be active and healthy.

Staff were very kind and caring and knew what was important and mattered to people. Staff had developed very close, supportive relationships with people that were based on trust and the promotion of people’s confidence and self-worth. People were supported and encouraged to maintain contact with friends and relatives. Respect for equality, diversity and inclusion was fully embedded within the service and integral to everything the staff did.

People felt safe and were able to raise concerns. The registered manager and staff team provided safe care for people. They knew how to safeguard people from abuse and managed risk in ways that supported people to continually follow their lifestyle choices as much as possible. There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and they had been recruited in a safe way.

Accidents and incidents were monitored closely. Staff supported people to manage their anxieties and behaviours in a positive way. Medicines were managed safely. Staff supported people well with all aspects of nutrition and helped people to attend or prepare for health appointments as needed.

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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

There was a positive, open and caring culture within the service; staff felt listened to and supported and worked well as a team. The management team were approachable and accessible. Systems were in place to improve the quality and safety of the service. People and staff had the opportunity to feedback about the service. People and relatives told us they were very happy with the service they received.

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

Rating at the last inspection

At the last inspection, the service was rated good (published 22 February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

SENSE Supported Living Services (Lincolnshire) is registered to provide support for people who live in their own homes. When we inspected the service there were three people receiving support. They all shared a detached residential property in Louth. Each of then held a tenancy with their landlord. Although they shared communal facilities in the property such as the kitchen, lounge and bathroom, each person had their own bedroom.

The service is registered to support younger adults, people who have a learning disability and people who live with autism. It can also support people who need assistance due to having special sensory needs.

The service had an administrative office In Louth that was near to the property in which the people lived.

SENSE Supported Living Services (Lincolnshire) is operated by a national charity that is the registered provider. There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. In this report when we speak both about the charity and the registered manager, we refer to them as being, ‘the registered persons’.

Staff knew how to respond to any concerns that might arise so that people were kept safe from abuse. People had been supported to avoid the risk of accidents and they had been helped to manage their medicines safely. There were enough staff to provide people with the support they needed and background checks had been completed before new staff had been appointed.

Staff had received training and guidance and they knew how to support people in the right way. People had been assisted to plan and prepare their own meals and they had been supported to receive all of the healthcare assistance they needed.

Staff had ensured that people’s rights were respected by helping them to make decisions for themselves. The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how registered persons apply the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and to report on what we find. These safeguards protect people when they are not able to make decisions for themselves and it is necessary to deprive them of their liberty in order to keep them safe. In relation to this, the registered persons had worked with the local authority to ensure that people only received lawful support that respected their rights.

People were treated with kindness, compassion and respect. Staff recognised people’s right to privacy and promoted their dignity. Confidential information was kept private.

People had been consulted about the support they wanted to receive and they had been gently encouraged to be as independent as possible. People had been supported to pursue their work commitments, hobbies and interests. There was a system for quickly and fairly resolving complaints.

People had been consulted about the development of their home. In addition, they had been assisted to liaise with their landlord about making improvements to their home. Quality checks had been regularly completed to ensure that people reliably received all of the support they needed. Staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns and good team work was promoted. People had benefited from staff acting upon good practice guidance.