Archived: Supported Living Services

Updated 15 April 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We inspected Supported Living Services on 11 and 14 March 2016. This was an announced inspection. We informed the provider at short notice [the day before] that we would be visiting to inspect. We did this because we wanted to ensure the registered manager was available at the registered location.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector. We firstly met the registered manager at the location’s registered office in Durham where we viewed records and spoke to staff members and we then visited people in three different homes around County Durham. We also viewed recruitment records at the provider’s head office on 14 March 2016.

Before the inspection we reviewed all of the information we held about the service. For example we looked at safeguarding notifications and complaints. We also contacted professionals involved in supporting the people who used the service; including; commissioners and the learning disability team and no concerns were raised by any of these professionals. We met with a commissioner on the day of our inspection.

The provider had completed a provider information return [PIR]. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider had completed and returned this to us in a timely fashion. The registered manager gave us an update on these improvements during the course of our visit.

During our inspection we observed how the staff interacted with people who used the service and with each other. We visited people in their own homes to see whether people had positive experiences. This included looking at the support that was given by the staff by observing practices and interactions between staff and people who used the service.

We also reviewed staff training records, recruitment files, medication records, safety certificates, and records relating to the management of the service such as audits, policies and minutes of team meetings.

During the inspection we reviewed a range of records. This included six care records, including support planning documentation and medication records. We also looked at six staff files, including staff recruitment and training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 15 April 2016

We inspected Supported Living Services on 11 March and 14 March 2016. This was an announced inspection. We informed the provider at short notice [the day before] that we would be visiting to inspect. We did this because we wanted to ensure the registered manager would be at the registered location office.

Supported Living Services provide personal care to people who wish to live independently in their own or shared homes. The service covers the County Durham area and provides a range of care and support services to 129 people in 37 properties. People may have learning difficulties, mental health problems or physical disabilities.

The service has a registered manager. 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.

We spoke with the registered manager, four support managers and clerical staff, and met four support staff in three homes we visited. All staff told us that they felt supported. There was a regular programme of staff supervision and appraisal in place. Records of supervision were detailed and showed the registered manager and support managers worked with staff to identify their personal and professional development areas.

There were systems and processes in place to protect the people who used the service from the risk of harm. Staff were aware of different types of abuse, what constituted poor practice and action to take if abuse was suspected. Appropriate checks of the buildings and maintenance systems were undertaken to ensure health and safety of staff and people.

Risk assessments were in place for people using the service and the safety of staff members. Staff members told us of the systems they followed in case of emergency as they were sometimes lone workers.

Staff had been trained and had the skills and knowledge to provide support to the people they cared for and supported. There were enough staff on duty to provide support and ensure that people's needs were met. Staff were aware of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act [2005] and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards [DoLS] which meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity.

We found that safe recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work. This included obtaining references from previous employers to show staff employed were safe to work with vulnerable people.

Appropriate systems were in place for the management of medicines so that people received their medicines safely. We witnessed safe medicine administration in one home we visited.

There were positive interactions between people who used the service and staff. We saw that staff treated people who used the service with dignity and respect. Staff were attentive, showed compassion, were patient and gave encouragement to people.

People’s nutritional needs were met, with them being involved in shopping and decisions about meals. Individual likes and dislikes were supported with meal choices.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare professionals and services. We saw they were supported and encouraged to have regular health checks and were accompanied by staff to appointments.

People had a person centred plan which showed how they wished to be supported. Staff were able to demonstrate how these had been developed with people and they contained lots of information about people’s history and current needs and goals. They were also regularly reviewed and updated when required.

Staff encouraged and supported people to access activities within the community and also to maintain family and other important relationships.

The provider had a system in place for responding to any concerns and complaints. Staff told us they knew when people were unhappy and would take action to resolve this.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. We found that the service had been regularly reviewed through a range of internal and external audits. We saw that action had been taken to improve the service or put right any issues found.