Archived: Sandwell Supported Living

People’s experience of using this service:

People were protected from the risk of potential abuse. People were protected from the risk of harm including accidents and injury.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had been recruited safely and were appropriately trained.

People received their medicines as prescribed. They were supported to eat and drink sufficient quantitites safely and their health needs were monitored. People were supported to access healthcare professionals when required.

People were supported to be fully involved in making choices about their care and providing consent. People were supported by staff who were kind and caring towards them. Their privacy and dignity were respected and their independence promoted.

People’s needs were appropriately assessed and they received support that was truly personalised to their individual needs. People were supported to access a wide range of activities and leisure opportunities.

People’s views were sought and they were able to make complaints if needed.

People were supported in a well-managed service with effective quality assurance and governance systems in place. The provider and manager were committed to making improvements to the service in order to provide high standards of care and to enhance people’s quality of life.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated ‘good’ (published 07 October 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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

Sandwell Supported Living Smethwick provides personal care and support to six people with a range of needs which include learning disabilities and physical disabilities that live independently in the community.

There was a registered manager in post, but they were not based full time at this location. The service was managed on a daily basis by a branch manager who advised that they were supported by the registered manager. The branch manager was present during our inspection.

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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were safe and the provider had systems in place to safeguard people from harm. People received their medicines as prescribed and staff had received training to ensure they administered medicines safely. Staff were recruited in a safe way which ensured they were of a good character to work with people who used this service.

Risk assessments and care plans had been developed with the involvement of people. Staff had the relevant information about how to minimise identified risks to ensure people were supported in a safe way.

Staff received regular training opportunities to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to support people in accordance with their needs and the values of the provider. Staff were described as caring and respectful.

The branch manager understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff knew about people’s individual capacity to make decisions and supported them to make their own decisions.

People received support from staff that were respectful and caring and ensured that people’s privacy and dignity was maintained. People were supported to maintain their health; we saw that staff alerted health care professionals if they had any concerns about their health.

Representatives felt that the service provided met people’s need and they were aware of the complaints procedure. Arrangements were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, so that actions could be put in place to drive improvement.