Updated 13 March 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:
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type:
The service provides personal care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible.
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 5 days’ notice of the inspection site visits because some of the people using the service could not consent to a home visit from an inspector, which meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this.
What we did:
Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). We checked records held by Companies House and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
The registered manager completed a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection we checked the following records:
• Four people’s care records
• Records of accidents, incidents and complaints
• Two staff recruitment files
• Information relating to staff training
• Audits and quality assurance reports
We visited two independent living services and talked with five people. We spoke with three relatives and one person’s friend. We also spoke with the registered manager, two team leaders, two support workers, two senior support workers and the administrator.
We contacted a manager from the care management team, a care manager and a speech and language therapist from the local NHS Trust, a manager from a local retirement housing scheme and a nurse behaviour specialist to obtain their views about the service.