The Care Quality Commission
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Choice Supported Living - East

Overall: Inadequate read more about inspection ratings

Linden House, Lime Walk, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 9DY (020) 3195 0146

Provided and run by:
Community Homes of Intensive Care and Education Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Dates of assessment: 17 September 2026 to 22 September 2026.
The service is a supported living service providing care to younger adults, people with learning disabilities, autistic people, people with mental health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. This inspection was prompted due to safeguarding concerns we had received about people using the service.

We identified breaches of 5 regulations relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, governance and staffing.

The provider did not ensure all risks to people had been identified and mitigated. Where risks had been identified, the management of them was poor. Care plans lacked detailed information which meant there was a risk people may not be supported according to their needs. Staff told us they did not feel supported with adequate training and guidance to manage people’s risks.
We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. This assessment found the provider was not reflecting this guidance, and people were not always treated as individuals. For example, people had to be supported as a group and there had been inconsistent support to facilitate people receiving person-centred support.

The provider did not have an effective quality assurance and governance system in place. This had resulted in shortfalls that placed the people who use the service at risk of harm. At the time of our visit the service was led by 2 registered managers. This means that both registered managers and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The concerns identified during this assessment were of a nature and seriousness that should reasonably have been identified and addressed through the provider's governance systems. The fact these concerns remained present across multiple locations indicated a failure of provider oversight and quality assurance arrangements. Taken together, these failures demonstrated ongoing and widespread failures in the management of risk, medicines, staffing, safeguarding and governance.

This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide aframework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of care they provide. In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded.

26 February 2020

During a routine inspection

About the service

Choice Supported Living - East is a supported living service that supports people with learning and other difficulties which impact on their ability to live independently. The service assists people to hold their own tenancies to enable them to live in their own homes. It aims to support and encourage people to become as independent as possible. At the time of our inspection 79 people were receiving 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 and their relatives were positive about the service and the care provided. People were cared for by staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. People received their medicines as planned and systems were in place for the safe management of medicines.

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's dignity, confidentiality and privacy were respected, and their independence was promoted. People's rights to make their own decisions were upheld.

Incidents and accidents were investigated, and actions were taken to prevent recurrence. Enough staff were available to support and meet people's needs. Training records showed, and our observations confirmed staff followed infection control and prevention procedures.

Care was delivered by staff who were well trained and knowledgeable about people's care and support needs. People's needs were assessed, and care was planned and delivered to meet legislation and good practice guidance. People were encouraged to maintain good diet and access health services when required.

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.

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 27 May 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 reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

25 April 2017

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 25 and 26 April 2017 and was announced.

This was the first inspection of Excel Support Services Limited - South East (Also known as CHOICE supported Living - East.) They were previously registered but the provider changed in October 2016 which meant that the service was newly registered at that time. The service offers a supported living service to people with learning and other difficulties which impact on their ability to live independently. The service assists people to hold their own tenancies to enable them to live in their own homes. It aims to support and encourage people to become as independent as possible, with only as much intervention from care staff as is necessary. The service, currently, supports 71 people in 39 premises.

The service is required to have a 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. There is a registered manager running the service.

People, staff and others were kept as safe as possible. Exceptionally, people were positively supported to learn how to keep themselves safe. People were protected by staff who had received the appropriate training and received training themselves so everyone knew how to recognise and deal with any form of abuse. Staff had been safely recruited and were suitable to provide people with safe care. People were supported, by trained staff, to take their medicines safely. All significant risks were identified and managed to keep people and staff as safe as possible.

People’s right to make decisions and choices for themselves was upheld by staff. Care staff understood how important it was to people to give consent and direct their own life. People’s rights were protected by staff who understood the Mental Capacity Act (2005). This legislation provides a legal framework that sets out how to act to support people who do not have capacity to make a specific decision. 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's needs were met by a committed and caring staff team who were exceptional at equipping people to attain as much independence as possible. They were creative and innovative in finding ways to support people to gain communication skills so they could express themselves more fully. It ensured staff could understand people and people could understand staff. Any information relating to people who use the service were produced in formats people may be able to understand and often in individualised formats. The service, unusually had a number of ways of ensuring people could get involved in planning and running their service. People’s diversity was recognised and respected and they were treated with respect and dignity at all times.

People were supported to be part of the community and experience a wide range of activities, including attending work and college.

The service was well managed by a registered manager and management team who were described as open and supportive. The service had numerous ways to continually monitor and assess the quality of care they offered. Any shortfalls or improvements needed were identified and acted upon.