Real Life Options - Long Eaton Supported Living and Outreach

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

The provider implemented systems to promote a positive safety culture. Staff understood the procedure to record and report incidents; these were reviewed by the manager and learning shared with people and staff. Trends and themes were identified and action taken to improve outcomes for people. For example, specialist support was accessed to explore and understand a person’s sensory needs and subsequently develop effective communication strategies to support people to develop the ability to manage their behaviours, emotions, and thoughts effectively. This had a positive effect resulting in a significant reduction in the number of incidents.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care.

The provider worked with the people and their representatives, the housing provider and other professionals to support an effective transition for people moving into their own homes. Assessments of people’s needs took into account the recommendations of relevant health professionals, for example, recommendations made by speech and language therapists (SaLT) to reduce the risk of choking. The provider implemented systems to ensure people’s care was safe through ongoing monitoring and regular reviews. Staff engaged with visiting professionals and appropriately shared information and updates. Staff implemented recommendations from visiting professionals, completing records and monitoring as requested.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The provider shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

People were safe and supported by staff who attended safeguarding training and understood their responsibility to protect people from abuse and neglect. Staff got to know people well and understood the signs to look out for indicating potential abuse or neglect.

The provider systems facilitated the sharing of concerns with other agencies. It was identified during the assessment 1 notification had not been successfully submitted to CQC. This is important information to assist CQC in monitoring services. This was addressed immediately by the provider who submitted a duplicate copy of the notification. The provider confirmed recent changes (February 2026) had been made to the recording procedure to ensure the recording of reference numbers for notifications.

The provider worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

The provider implemented procedures to ensure risk assessments were completed with people to identify and manage areas of risk in people’s lives. Individuals were supported to do what they wanted to do as safely as possible. For example, people were supported to attend social activities, volunteering opportunities, shopping and develop and maintain relationships.

Care records contained guidance to support people. However, a review of people’s care records identified occasional errors. For example, reviews, changes and updates were not recorded consistently. Staff knew people well and systems were in place to ensure they had access to up-to-date information, for example, handover meetings between shifts and written communications. There was no evidence found of harm occurring from the few recording errors identified. The provider was responsive to feedback provided during the assessment and took immediate action to rectify the errors and considered action to reduce the risk of this happening again.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.

The provider supported people to maintain their tenancies, including identifying and reporting relevant issues to the housing provider. For example, the repair of faulty or damaged equipment in the home.

Individual risk assessments were completed to identify risks and measures in place to promote people’s safety in their own homes. For example, the safe storage of hazardous items.

The provider was in the process of introducing an electronic record system to support the delivery of safe care. Staff were on board with this change and were able to identify some improvements in outcomes for people. For example, the system alerted when tasks, including medicines, were not completed at the correct time, allowing any issues to be identified and addressed.

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.

A review of records identified the provider implemented systems to ensure safe recruitment practices. Staff confirmed this and described to us the process they went through. This included eligibility to work checks, criminal record background checks, and reference checks before commencing work. The provider had an action in place to combine staff recruitment records in one storage location. This was recorded as progressing to ensure all documentation was available in the employee personnel files.

Staff attended a planned induction which included training as well as shadowing opportunities with experienced staff and practical competence assessments. Staff told us a valuable part of the induction were opportunities to meet and start to get to know the people who received support. The provider offered a rolling programme of training and development to ensure staff were up to date with mandatory training requirements. The provider monitored training compliance and plans were in place to ensure this was on track in the services. Staff completed mandatory learning disability and autism training as required by their specialist support roles.

Staff received effective supervision from an appropriate manager. Staff told us they were comfortable to approach managers with any query at any time and were confident they would be responded to. Staff were consistently complimentary about the skills and approach of the management team and their appreciation of the open-door policy now in practice for flexible support.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly.

The provider implemented a system to ensure the risk of infection was managed. A planned health and safety audit was completed every six months. Records demonstrated areas for improvement were identified and actioned.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) was available and used appropriately. People had no concerns relating to infection prevention and control.

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning, including when changes happened.

People were supported to manage their medicines safely as required. Appropriately trained and competent care staff worked with people to ensure safe storage and administration of medicines. Regular reviews took place with relevant medical professionals to monitor the effectiveness of people’s medications and maintain oversight of the medicines prescribed, ensuring these remained appropriate. Medicine protocols included guidance for staff to follow. Staff told us they felt confident to support people to manage their medicines and were supported in this role.

The provider implemented a digital system which supported continuous monitoring to ensure any administration concerns were flagged and addressed. Regular audits were completed to identify concerns and record how and when these has been addressed.