Archived: Connections

Connections is the location for North East Somerset Supported Living Service which provides personal care to 22 people. The service focuses on supporting people with a learning disability to live independently. They also provide support to people with complex needs associated with a disability and in these circumstances can provide up to 24-hour care. This inspection did not look at the day centre element of Connections.

There was a registered manager for the service. 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 treated with care and courtesy by the staff that supported them. Staff were able to give people plenty of time when they were supporting them. There were many positive interactions between people and staff. People approached staff in a relaxed way when they wanted to talk with them.

People’s needs were identified and their care was planned with their involvement. Care was delivered in a way that properly met their needs in the way they preferred.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to stay healthy and they were supported with preparing meals and drinks.

People were assisted with their needs by staff who were monitored and supported in their work. People also benefited because they were supported by staff who were properly trained and competent to meet their needs.

People spoke positively about the care and support they received from the staff. Examples of comments we were told included, "They’re all nice to me” and "I like living on my own now.”

Care records were informative and clearly showed what to do to effectively assist people with their personal care needs.

People were well supported to make complaints and express their views about the service that they received.

The staff showed that they understood the needs of the people they supported. People were well supported to make choices about the support they wanted and how they chose to spend their day.

The provider’s visions and values were understood by the staff who put them into practice when they supported people. These included providing personalised care so that people were treated as unique individuals.

There was an effective system in place to check and monitor the quality of service that people received. The views of people and their family, as well as staff were sought as part of this process. When improvements were needed, prompt action was taken and these were acted upon.

Family members we spoke with were very happy with the care and support provided by staff. They said that staff understood their relative's needs and provided consistent care. One relative said "Our son has used this service for the last couple of years. We are very happy with the care."

People who used the service told us they felt safe when their care was being provided. One person said 'We are safe so I don't need to worry. If I worry or am unhappy I would talk to the staff. I have not been unhappy about anything. The staff are kind.' Each family member we spoke with said they felt their relatives were protected from abuse. They felt safety was a key priority for staff.

The provider ensured thorough checks were carried out on all new staff. This ensured that people were protected from being cared for by unsuitable staff.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. The views of people who used the service, their family members and staff were sought. Where areas for improvement were identified these were acted upon.

We found there were comprehensive and individualised care planning and assessment of people's care needs. There were arrangements in place where people who received a service were able to give consent for that support and be involved in the planning of their care.

Support workers we spoke with illustrated a good understanding of the nature of abuse and of their responsibilities in reporting any concerns. We saw that the service had robust policies and procedures in place to help in protecting people from abuse and reporting suspected abuse.

Support worker told us they received good support through regular one to one meetings. They said their managers were approachable. There was evidence that staff had undertaken the training they needed particularly in core skills.