Sanctuary Supported Living - Epworth House

Updated 4 January 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

Sanctuary Supported Living - Epworth House provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing 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. Not everyone using Sanctuary Supported Living - Epworth House receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection only one person was receiving this support.

Some of the people who live at Epworth House have learning disabilities and the care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

The inspection was informed by feedback from questionnaires completed by five staff members and two community professionals. The feedback was 100% positive to each question asked; for example one read, the provider co-operates with other services and shares relevant information when needed.

We used information we held about the service and the information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We produced an inspection plan to assist us to conduct the inspection visit with all the information we held about this service.

One inspector completed this inspection on 5 December 2017. We announced it and gave the provider two days’ notice. This was to ensure that we could visit people in their home at a convenient time and to make sure staff were available to speak with us.

We spoke with one person who used the service and their friend to receive feedback on the care and support they received. We also spoke with the registered manager and two project workers and reviewed the care plan for the person to check that they were accurate and up to date. We also looked at the systems the provider had in place to ensure the quality of the service was continuously monitored and reviewed to drive improvement. For example, we looked at monthly audits and two staff recruitment files.

Updated 4 January 2018

This announced inspection took place on 5 December 2017. Sanctuary Supported Living - Epworth House provides supported living for up to thirteen people in their own home. There were communal areas and a shared garden. Only one person was receiving a service under their registration presently. This was the provider’s first inspection under this registration.

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 were supported 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. People were involved in planning their own care and reviewing it regularly. Staff communicated with people in a way which enabled them to express their choices and maintain their independence. Their privacy and dignity was respected and upheld by the staff who supported them.

Risk was assessed and plans were in place to monitor people’s health and to assist them in a safe manner. There were systems in place to monitor and drive improvement, including lessons learnt when things go wrong.

Staff had caring relationships with the people they supported and encouraged them to raise any concerns that they had; and there was a complaints procedure in place but people said that they had not needed to use it.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and they were supported and trained to ensure that they had the skills to support people effectively. There were safe recruitment procedures in place to ensure that they were safe to work with people. They were trained in safeguarding and understood how to protect people from harm. They also assisted people to understand how to keep themselves safe. People were also encouraged to contribute to the development of the service.