Sense - Supported Living Services (East)

Updated 13 March 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

Our inspection was completed by a single inspector.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to people of all ages who are deafblind living in Peterborough and Lincolnshire. This service also provides care and support to people living in two supported living settings, so that they can live in their own home 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:

• Our inspection was announced.

• We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

• Inspection site visit activity took place between 22 November 2018 and 23 November 2018. We visited both supported living properties to see the care people received and to access records and speak to staff. We also visited the office location on 22 November 2018 to see the registered manager and to review care records of people using the domiciliary care service and policies and procedures.

What we did:

• Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, and local authorities.

• We asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

• We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about.

• We observed the care at the supported living homes and also spoke with the relatives of a person living at one of the homes.

• We spoke with the registered manager, the manager of the domiciliary care service and two members of care staff.

• We looked at a range of documents and written records including four people’s care files and two staff recruitment records. We also looked at information relating to the administration of medicines and the auditing and monitoring of service provision.

Updated 13 March 2019

About the service:

• The service supported deafblind people with some of who had a learning disability or were living with autism. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It also provides a service to people living in a supported living setting. It provides a service to people of all ages who are deafblind living in Peterborough and Lincolnshire. The service was providing care to one person living with their family in the community and seven people in supported living settings.

• The service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

• We saw that people using the service were happy and confident with the staff. A relative we spoke with told us that the care provided was good and met their relative's needs.

• Staff were kind and caring and had a good knowledge of people’s needs. They communicated using people’s preferred methods to increase people’s ability to make choices.

• 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 were supported to access advocates to speak for them when they were unable to speak for themselves.

• There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and checks had been carried out to ensure staff were safe to work with people using the service. Staff had access to training and support which enabled them to provide safe care.

• Risks to people had been identified and care was planned to reduce the risk. Staff training ensured that people received their medicines safely and risks around food and drink were identified and action taken to keep people safe.

• Care plans accurately recorded people’s care needs and how staff could personalise the care. Staff we spoke with were able to confidently tell us about people’s needs.

• The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and took action to resolve any concerns identified.

• People’s views of the service were gathered and used to improve the quality of care they received.

Rating at last inspection:

• The service has not previously been rated.

Why we inspected:

• This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration of the service.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about this service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.