Thera North

Updated 31 December 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

The inspection was carried out by four inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type

Thera North is a supported living service. It provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so 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 care and support.

The service had two managers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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 provider three working days’ notice, to ensure they would be available and to give them time to gain relatives’ consent for us to contact them for feedback.

Inspection activity started on 16 September 2019 and ended on 14 October 2019. We visited the office location on 16 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the previous inspection report and information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information from the provider about important events that had taken place at the service, which they are legally required to send us. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

The majority of Thera locations, including Thera North, are registered in Grantham, Lincolnshire, despite the organisation being responsible for locations in different parts of the country. Due to this, a decision was made by CQC to co-ordinate inspection activity at a number of Thera locations. A head office visit was carried out on 16 September 2019 by a team of inspectors prior to locations being inspected. The information from this visit fed into each of the location inspections.

During the Thera North inspection, we visited seven supported living settings and spoke with 10 people being supported by the service, to gain their feedback about the support they received. We also met with one person at a community setting of their choice. We spoke on the telephone with nine people’s relatives/representatives to gain their views about the support provided. We also spoke with fifteen support staff, the two registered managers and the nominated individual for the service. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and a selection of medicines records. We looked at two staff recruitment files and staff supervision and appraisal records. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures and audits.

After the inspection

We reviewed further information received from the provider, including policies, training records, meeting minutes and records of audits completed.

Updated 31 December 2019

About the service

Thera North is a supported living service, providing personal care and support to people in their own homes in the northern counties of Lancashire, Cumbria and Durham. Not everyone using the service receives personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people receive personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 59 people, living in 23 supported living settings. However, only 42 people were receiving personal care.

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

People felt safe with staff, and relatives told us people received safe care. The provider recruited staff safely and staff knew how to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. Staff managed risks to people’s health and wellbeing appropriately. Staff administered people’s medicines safely and checked people’s equipment and home environment regularly to ensure it was safe.

Staff completed the induction and training needed to support people effectively. Staff supported people to eat and drink enough and ensured they received appropriate support with their healthcare needs. Staff referred people to community professionals when they needed additional support. 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 liked the staff who supported them, and relatives told us staff were caring and kind. Staff respected people's right to privacy and dignity and encouraged them to become more independent when it was safe to do so. They respected people's diversity and involved people in decisions about their care.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and provided them with individualised support that reflected their needs and preferences. Staff supported people to maintain relationships that were important to them and people had developed positive relationships with staff. Staff supported people to follow their interests and develop new skills. They offered people choices and encouraged them to make decisions about their care when they were able to. Complaints were managed appropriately, and any lessons learned were shared with staff.

Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and provided support which helped people achieve good outcomes. They worked in partnership with a variety of agencies to ensure people received the support they needed. People and relatives were happy with how the service was being managed. Staff told us management had improved significantly at the service, and they felt valued and well supported by the registered managers and provider. The provider had effective oversight of the service and the support that staff provided to people. A number of improvements to the service were planned.

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 17 February 2017). Since this rating was awarded, the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection

Why we inspected

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

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.