Supported Living Solutions (North West) Limited

About the service

Supported Living Solutions (North West) Limited is a small supported living service providing personal care and support to people in their own home. The service provided support to people with learning disabilities and / or autism. At the time of our inspection the service supported one person living in their own home. The office base is located on the outskirts of Westhoughton near Bolton.

At the time of our inspection one person was using the service. The service delivered 155 hours of care to this person each week. There were plans to expand the service to support other people in the future.

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.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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

Although the person supported had limited interaction with the inspector, the inspector was able to observe how they related to staff. The person was comfortable and interacted frequently, in a relaxed way with staff. The person’s relatives told us they felt their family member was safe and looked after by staff. Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff to meet the person’s care and support needs. Staff assessed and managed risks to keep the person as safe as possible. They supported the person with any medicines needed.

Staff supported the person to see healthcare professionals promptly to help their health and wellbeing. They had sufficient nutrition and staff were familiar with their dietary needs. They were helped to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff assessed people's capacity to make decisions. Staff had been suitably trained and supported and had the skills, knowledge and experience to provide good care.

Staff provided care that met the person’s different needs and preferences. They and their relatives were involved in planning their care and encouraged to make decisions. We saw the person enjoyed spending time with the staff team who supported them 24 hours a day. The person’s relatives told us their family member was treated with respect and consideration.

Staff had assessed the person’s specific communication needs and were familiar with the ways they communicated. They were involved in a variety of activities of their choosing with staff support. Staff encouraged the person to indicate or their families to tell them about any concerns or complaints.

We saw the person could make their views known and make decisions about their lives. Staff listened to and acted on their wishes. The registered manager monitored the service to check on the quality and make sure staff were providing good care. They understood and acted on legal obligations, including conditions of CQC registration and those of other organisations. The registered manager worked in partnership with other services and organisations to make sure they followed good practice and people in their care were safe.

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

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated good (published 23 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Supported Living Solutions (North West) Limited is a small supported living service whose office is located on the outskirts of Westhoughton near Bolton, which provides the space necessary for the running of the company and management of the regulated activity and its employees, including facilitating staff meetings, training and supervision.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

The service had a robust recruitment process to help ensure people employed were suitable to work with vulnerable people.

Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place and the staff demonstrated a good understanding of safeguarding concerns and the process to follow if they suspected abuse.

Comprehensive risk assessments were in place and support plans devised to mitigate the risks. Care files contained a daily observation chart that identified the care interventions that staff had provided at each visit such as any nutritional or personal care support.

We saw that people or their representatives had been involved in planning the care provided.

Staff told us they were well supported and were inducted in to the service and received on-going training to support them to undertake their role.

The service was working within the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA).

The relative of the person who used the service told us they valued how staff supported their family member. They said staff were kind and caring and paid particular attention to detail which reassured them that their family member was being well cared for.

The registered manager covered care shifts to ensure they maintained oversight regarding the care provided.

The relatives of the person who used the service were fully involved with decisions about [their relative’s] care and it was evident from care records that the person’s personal preferences were taken into account.

There was a complaints policy in place and although at the time of the inspection there had not been any complaints received, there were systems in place to track complaints.

We received positive feedback about the registered manager. The relative of the person who used the service and staff, stated the service was managed well.

The registered manager had an infrastructure in place to seek the views of people who used the service and their relatives by undertaking reviews of care delivery.