County Care Independent Living Ltd

County Care Independent Living Ltd provides care and support to people living in their own homes. The service is registered to support autistic people, people with learning disabilities, people with mental health needs, older people, people with a physical disability, and people with sensory impairment. The service is also registered to provide care for children, although was not supporting anyone under the age of 18 at the time of our inspection. In addition to support with personal care, the service provides outreach support, a Community Skills Project, and reablement support.

CQC only inspects services where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. The service supported 350 people at the time of our inspection, 14 of whom received support with personal care.

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

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, and supported people to enjoy fulfilling and meaningful lives. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and to achieve their aspirations.

The service was exceptionally flexible to meet people’s needs. Staff went above and beyond expectations to ensure people received the support they needed to live their lives as they chose. People were supported to be active and valued members of their local community.

Managers and staff worked exceptionally hard to support people to learn new skills, increase their independence and ensure people did not become socially isolated. People were supported to take part in activities they enjoyed and to maintain relationships with their friends and families, which greatly enhanced their quality of life.

Staff supported people to maintain good health and the provider ensured important information was made available to people in formats that were accessible to them.

Staff had the induction, ongoing training and support they needed to carry out their roles. Regular one-to-one supervision provided opportunities for staff to discuss their performance and any further training needs.

Right care

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.

People received consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff were kind and caring and responded to people’s individual needs. People were able to choose how they used their support, which maximised choice and control over their lives.

Right culture

Staff respected people’s individuality, protected their rights and advocated for them when necessary. There was a real focus on supporting and enabling people to be involved in their local communities.

The provider was committed to involving people who used the service, their families and staff in developing and improving the service. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. The provider used any concerns or complaints received as opportunities to improve the service.

The provider’s governance arrangements were effective in keeping people safe and ensuring the care they received met their individual needs. Staff felt valued for the work they did and were well-supported in their roles. Managers and staff had established good working relationships with other professionals to ensure people received well-co-ordinated care and support.

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 this service was good (published 29 November 2017).

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.

County Care Independent Living Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and outreach support to people living in their own homes. They support people with learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities and mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people receiving personal care.

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.

People received person-centred care and their care plans reflected their needs and what was important to them. Staff routinely involved people in their care and supported them to make choices and decisions. People had consented to receiving a service. People were supported to take part in a wide variety of activities, outings and events. The provider had systems in place for people to be involved in decisions about the service. People and relatives were regularly asked for feedback through regular surveys. The provider took complaints seriously and ensured people knew how to raise concerns.

Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Plans were in place to minimise risks to people whilst promoting their independence. People’s records reflected what was important to them and people told us that staff encouraged them to be independent and develop skills. Where accidents or incidents did occur, staff took appropriate action to keep people safe. Staff had been trained in how to safeguard people from abuse and they demonstrated a good understanding of local safeguarding procedures.

The provider carried out appropriate checks on staff to ensure that they were suitable for their roles. Staff received an induction and ongoing training to ensure they were confident in their roles. Staff had regular supervision meetings to discuss their work and their performance. Staff felt supported by management and were given opportunities to contribute to the running of the service. Staff were made to feel valued because the provider had introduced recognition schemes that rewarded good practice. The provider deployed staff in a way that meant staff were on time and able to spend the allotted time with people. A plan was in place to ensure that people’s care would continue in the event of an emergency.

People’s medicines were recorded appropriately and any healthcare needs were met. Staff supported people to attend appointments and discussed people’s healthcare with people where appropriate. People were given food in line with their preferences and their dietary requirements. Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and dignity when supported them with personal care.

The provider had a plan for improving the service and this was regularly updated. Audits took place to identify any improvements which were actioned by management. The provider had developed links with the local community and people benefitted from these.