Support to Live at Home West

Updated 7 September 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

West Supported Housing and Domiciliary is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 11 people living in their own homes and a supported living service to 22 people who live in one of seven ‘supported living settings’, so that they can live 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 1 August 2019 and ended on 13 August 2019 when we gave feedback. It included a visit to the office location on 1 August 2019 to meet with people using the service, the provider’s regional manager, staff and to review care plans and other records.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and seven people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the provider’s regional manager, two team leaders and seven members of support staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 7 September 2019

About the service

West Supported Housing and Domiciliary is a service that provides personal care to 11 people who live in their own homes and 22 people who live in one of seven supported living environments. The service supported younger adults, older people, people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder.

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.

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

West Supported Housing and Domiciliary continued to provide people with a safe quality service. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s risks and how to care for them safely. They understood how to protect and safeguard people and demonstrated a transparent attitude to reporting concerns.

People’s risks were assessed, monitored and adapted when their needs changed. There were enough staff to support people and safe recruitment procedures were followed

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 encouraged to remain independent, were consistently treated with respect and had their privacy and dignity protected. Where required people were supported with their medicines and to maintain their health by accessing relevant services.

People’s care was planned and delivered in a person-centred way. Staff understood people’s individual communication needs and spoke with people according to their individual needs. People’s end of life wishes had been discussed with people and documented.

The provider had effective quality assurance systems to monitor the quality and safety of the care provided. People were asked for their views and their feedback used to improve the service and make any necessary changes.

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 28 March 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.