WHM Work Connections Supported Living Office

Updated 11 February 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 14 December 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed notifications that we had received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We spoke with four people that used the service, one of whom received assistance with their personal care. We spoke with the registered manager, a director of the service and two support workers.

We looked at care records of the person that received assistance with personal care from the service and other documentation about how the service was managed. This included policies and procedures, three staff recruitment records and records associated with quality assurance processes.

Updated 11 February 2016

The inspection took place on 14 December 2015. At our previous inspection 21 January 2014 the service was compliant with the regulations. This inspection was announced. 48 hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

WHM Work Connections Supported Living Office provide personal care and support to people that already access their skills centre. They support people to carry out daily living tasks in their own home and in their local community. At the time of our inspection there were six people using the service. One person was receiving support with their personal care at the time of our inspection.

There is a registered manager at 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 felt safe using the service. Staff had a good understanding of the types of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

Risks associated with people's care had been assessed and control measures were identified and put in place to keep people safe.

People were supported by a core group of staff. People received support from staff that knew and understood their needs. The service was flexible to respond to people's needs and to enable them to attend activities of their choice.

Staff were supported in their roles. They received regular training to further their knowledge. They received supervision to support them in their work.

Staff had a good understanding of how they were able to respect people’s privacy and dignity. People were supported to be as independent as they wanted to be. Staff encouraged people to develop independence.

People contributed to decisions about their care and support. People's needs were assessed and care plans put in place to ensure that they were met.

People were supported by a team of staff that had the managerial guidance and support they needed to do their job. All of the staff at the service shared the same vision and values. They were all committed to supporting people to maximise their independence by enabling individuals to have choice and control over their own lives.

There was no system in place to monitor that people received the allocated times of calls that they should have had throughout the month.