Support for Living Limited - 1 St Quintin Avenue

Updated 3 September 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

1 St Quintin Avenue is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service manager was registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 are legally responsible for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the provider a days’ notice of the inspection site visit because it is a small service. We needed to be sure that someone would be in to support us with the inspection process.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection took place, we reviewed information we held about the service. This included notifications which providers or others send us about certain changes, events or incidents that occur and which affect the service or the people who use it. We also reviewed the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people being supported by the service. Not everyone was able to provide feedback about their direct experience of using the service as they were unable to express themselves verbally. We spoke with two people using the service and a relative. We spoke with two people using the service and a relative. We spent time observing interaction between people and the staff who were supporting them. We spoke with the registered manager, a deputy manager, two members of staff on duty and a visiting regional manager. We looked at people's care records and related documentation and correspondence. We looked at supervision, training and appraisal records, policies and procedures, three staff files, as well as records relating to the management of the service.

Following the inspection, we contacted but did not hear back from a representative from the local authority commissioning service. We received feedback about the service via email from a local authority quality monitoring representative.

Updated 3 September 2019

About the service:

1 St Quintin Avenue is a care home registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six adults with a learning disability or an autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of this inspection there were five adults living at the service. The accommodation comprises a communal lounge, kitchen and separate dining area, a laundry room, communal bathrooms and toilets and a garden area with seating. Bedrooms do not have en-suite facilities.

People’s experience of using this service:

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.

People and their relatives were involved in the planning of their care. Improvements were required to ensure all care documentation was reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

Staff supported people to access appropriate healthcare services. However, recommendations from healthcare professionals were not always being transferred into daily practice.

People were safe from harm because risks to people's health and wellbeing were assessed, mitigated and reviewed appropriately.

Staff had a good understanding of people's preferences and promoted people's freedom and independence.

People trusted the staff working with them and staff supported people in a kind and caring manner.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to ensure they maintained a healthy balanced diet.

People were supported to follow their interests and participate in leisure and social activities.

The environment was well maintained and met people’s needs appropriately.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and make improvements where needed.

The previous inspection rating was displayed in line with CQC requirements.

Rating at last inspection and update:

The last rating for this service was good (report published 31 March 2017).

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of a scheduled plan based on our last rating of the service.