4 Futures

4 Futures provides care and support for people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, younger adults and older people. The service provides care and support to people living in a 'supported living' setting; the people receiving support at the time of inspection lived in one four-bedroom house.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects 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. At the time of our inspection, the service was supporting four people, however only three people received support with personal care.

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.

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

People were cared for safely. Risk assessments were in place and reviewed regularly and as people’s needs changed. Staff understood safeguarding procedures. There were safe procedures in place for the administration of medicines and people received their medicines as prescribed.

Pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure that only suitable staff were employed. There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs.

People made decisions about their daily routines and these were respected by staff. 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.

People were supported to access health care services when needed. People received the support they needed to meet their nutritional needs.

People’s care records contained clear information covering all aspects of their support needs. Staff had a good understanding of people’s wishes and individual preferences. People’s personal histories, preferences and dislikes and diversity needs such as cultural or religious needs were considered within the care plans.

Staff received the training required to meet people’s needs. Staff enjoyed working at the service and there was good communication and team work. Staff were caring in their approach and people were treated with respect. Staff maintained people’s dignity and promoted their independence.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

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.

The registered manager was also the provider. They were involved in all aspects of the running of the service and had suitable processes in place to monitor and develop the safety and quality of the service.

The provider worked in an open and transparent way and was keen to develop and improve the service. People knew how to make a complaint if they were not satisfied with the service received.

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 3 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

The registered provider was also the 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.

Improvements were required to ensure that all staff received comprehensive training which reflected all aspects of care, relevant to the people that used the service.

People received safe care and support. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and abuse and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of people that used the service and recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from care staff unsuited to the job.

Care records contained risk assessments to protect people from identified risks and helped to keep them safe but also enabled positive risk taking. They gave information for staff on the identified risk and informed staff on the measures to take to minimise any risks.

People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. In addition, staff supported people to manage their healthcare needs.

People received care from staff that were kind and friendly. Staff understood people’s needs and ensured people were given choices about how they wished to receive their care. People received care at their own pace and had their privacy and dignity maintained when receiving assistance with their personal care.

People’s care needs were assessed to ensure the service could meet people’s expectations before they began using the service. Care plans were written in a person centred manner and focussed on empowering people to receive the care they required. They detailed how people wished to be supported and people were fully involved in making decisions about their care. People received the care they needed and a suitable complaints procedure was in operation to resolve any concerns people raised.

People and staff reacted positively to the registered provider and the culture within the service focussed upon supporting people’s health and well-being which enabled people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Systems were in place to identify where improvements were required and these were effective at making improvements.