Supported Futures

About the service

Supported Futures is a domiciliary care agency offering personal care and support to children and adults living within their own homes. The service supports autistic people and people with a learning disability. 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. At the time of this inspection, 2 people were receiving personal care.

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

Right Support:

Relatives told us people felt safe and respected by the staff who supported them. However, systems and processes required improvement to ensure care practices were documented and to evidence risks were being managed safely.

Staff were recruited safely and received training and development opportunities. However, there were gaps in training and some training courses had expired.

Incidents of distressed behaviour were documented. However, follow up processes and incident analysis needed improving to ensure people were given the appropriate support after an incident involving distressed behaviour.

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. However, the systems in use did not always record this practice. Care plans needed improving to ensure they clearly documented how the provider was working in line with the Mental Capacity Act.

People were supported safely by dedicated and compassionate staff, who knew them well. Relatives told us they knew and trusted the staff team.

Right Care:

The provider worked in partnership with people, relatives and outside agencies to provide appropriate level of care and support. However, further improvement was needed to document partnership working and record this within care and support plans.

Care plans were person centred and people were supported to take positive risks. People were encouraged to try new activities, to make their own decisions and develop daily living skills.

Safeguarding policies were regularly updated and included in a staff induction booklet. Staff told us how they protect people from potential abuse, and they were confident about reporting concerns.

Right Culture:

The culture of care and support was person centred and focused on the individuality of people. However, quality processes required improvement to ensure risks were monitored and care practices were regularly audited.

There was a culture of learning when things went wrong. All improvements identified during the inspection were acted upon quickly and openly.

The manager understood their duty of candour and was transparent throughout the inspection and made improvements to the processes and systems in place. These will be reviewed in the next inspection.

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 14 August 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received relating to an absence of a registered manager over a significant period of time and concerns received about staff training. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We inspected and found there was a concern with Mental Capacity Act documentation in care plans, so we widened the scope of the inspection to include the key question of Effective.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The provider acted on all concerns raised and implemented new process and systems to address these concerns. We will review the success of the new systems in the next inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Supported Futures on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the overall governance of the service at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Supported Futures is a domiciliary care service offering personal care and support to children and younger adults living within their own homes. The service supports people with learning disabilities and/or autism. 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. Four people were being supported by the service at the time of our inspection.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.

People using the service received planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People felt safe and had confidence in the staff who took care of them. People received care from staff who had been supported in their role through regular supervision.

Staff were caring and passionate about their role and knew people's needs and preferences well.

Safe recruitment practices were in place and people were supported by staff that knew them well. Staff had completed an induction programme and undertook regular training to meet the requirements of their role.

Regular checks and audits were carried out to determine the quality and safety of the care and support being provided.

People were protected from the risk of harm and staff knew how to raise any concerns. Policies and procedures were also in place to guide staff.

Care plans and risk assessments were person centred and were regularly reviewed. Staff had developed strong relationships with the people they supported.

The service did not routinely manage medication, but all staff had undergone training to ensure their competency.

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.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People participated in activities of their choice. The service actively sought and facilitated both activities and work-based opportunities that were meaningful to people. People were also encouraged and supported to try new things.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence promoted.

Feedback was sought from people living at the service, their relatives and staff to ensure standards were being maintained and to help drive forward improvements. People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and management team.

The management of the service embedded a positive culture of person centred, high quality and compassionate care. Managers were described as being hands on, passionate, approachable and supportive.

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

This service was registered with us in August 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection. 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.