Supported Living UK

Updated 10 May 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.

Service and service type:

Supported Living UK Is a supported living service registered to provide personal care to younger adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorder, physical disabilities or mental health conditions.

There was no registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The previous manager had applied for registration with CQC but had recently left their post. The provider’s regional manager, who had managed the service in the past, had resumed the role of service manager until a permanent manager could be recruited. The regional manager had begun the CQC registration process.

Inspection team:

We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because we wanted to ensure people who used the service were at home and that the regional manager was available to support the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) submitted by the provider on 5 December 2018. 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.

During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service, five staff, the provider’s regional manager and the Operations Director. We checked care records for two people, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at four staff files and records of staff training and supervision. We also checked records including complaints, accident and incident records, quality monitoring checks and audits.

Updated 10 May 2019

About the service:

Supported Living UK Is a supported living service registered to provide personal care for up to 12 younger adults at 1 Willowmead. People who live at 1 Willowmead are tenants of Reside Housing Association who own the property. There were 12 people living at the service at the time of our inspection, two of whom received support with personal care. Two other people received support to manage their medicines.

People’s experience of using this service:

People’s care was provided by regular staff who understood their needs and preferences. Staff treated people as individuals and respected their rights and wishes. People were encouraged and supported to maintain their independence.

People had an allocated number of one-to-one staffing support hours each day and were able to choose how they used these hours. Each person also had a keyworker with whom they met regularly to plan and review their support. This ensured that people were able to give feedback about the support they received and to be involved in planning their care.

People were supported to maintain good health. Managers and staff worked effectively with other professionals to plan and deliver people’s care. These relationships were particularly important for people who had complex health or communication needs.

Staff were well-supported by their managers and had the training they needed to provide people’s care and support. All staff attended an induction when they joined the service and additional training was arranged to ensure staff had the skills to meet people’s individual needs. Staff communicated with one another and shared information effectively, which meant people received consistent care.

The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure staff were of good character and suitable to work in health and social care. Staff attended safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report any concerns they had about people’s safety or well-being. Potential risks to people and staff were identified and mitigated. Medicines were managed safely.

The service met the characteristics of Good in all areas; more information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

The service was rated Good at the last inspection on 10 March 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the rating awarded at the previous inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through notifications and communication with partner agencies such as local authorities and other commissioners. We will inspect the service again according to the rating achieved at this inspection unless we receive information of concern, in which case we may bring the next inspection forward.