Indpendent Lifestyles Support Agency

Updated 9 March 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 9 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing needs are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection the manager had begun the process of applying to be registered manager. Following our visit, they successfully completed the process to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 2 working days notice of the inspection. This was because the service is provided across several locations and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 10 January 2023 when we visited the office and ended on 23 January 2023 when we gave feedback to the provider. We visited people in their homes on 11, 13 and 16 January 2023, we had video meetings with people on 17 and 20 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed the information we received from and about the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met with 8 people in their homes. We met with the registered manager and senior manager at the office and reviewed a range of governance records. We met with 7 members of staff. We looked at 7 people’s care plans and medicine administration records and 4 staff recruitment files.

Following our visits, we continued to review these records along with a range of documents relating to staffing, staff training, policies, audits and governance. We spoke with 2 people’s relatives and 2 professionals who knew the service.

Updated 9 March 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Independent Lifestyles Support Agency is a supported living service registered to provide personal care to people with a learning disability and autistic people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 23 people being supported with personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive a regulated activity of personal care.

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

Right Support: People were supported to live in their community as independently as possible. People were encouraged to make choices about their lifestyle which were individual to them, this meant people’s activities and pastimes were meaningful to them. Staff encouraged people to develop their strengths. 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.

Right Care: People were supported in a person-centred way and their privacy and dignity was respected. People were supported with kindness, compassion and respect. Staff understood people’s risks and choices and how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff and managers worked in partnership with people’s health, social care and housing support services.

Right Culture: Systems were in place to ensure the quality of care and support was reviewed with people to drive improvements. There was a culture of respect, support and empowerment to ensure people lived fulfilled lives. Managers and staff felt supported and were proud of their roles.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous provider and at the previous premises was Good, published on 20 December 2018.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.