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Pharos Supported Services

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

131 Lincoln Road North, Birmingham, West Midlands, B27 6RT (0121) 706 9902

Provided and run by:
Pharos Care Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 4 March 2018

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 21 December 2017 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection site visit because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector, which meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this.

Inspection site visit activity started on 21 December 2017 and ended on 05 January 2018. We visited the office location on 21 December 2017 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made telephone calls to relatives on the 03 and 05 January 2018 .

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed information we held about the service, this included information received from the provider about deaths, accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We also contacted the local authority who commission services to gather their feedback. We used information the provider sent us in the 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We spoke with five people and one relative. We also spoke with four members of care staff, the two managers, and the Head of Operations. We looked at four care records, three staff recruitment files and records held in relation to quality assurance, staff training and complaints.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 4 March 2018

Our inspection of Pharos Supported Services took place on 21 December 2017. At our last inspection in January 2017 the provider was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ in the key questions of Safe and Well Led. There were breaches in Regulation 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At this inspection, we found that the required action had been taken and the provider was now meeting the regulations.

This service provides care and support to 22 people living in six ‘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 care 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.

There was no registered manager in post. 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. However two managers were jointly responsible for the management of the service and one of these managers had submitted their application to register.

People were supported by staff who knew how to report concerns of abuse and had the knowledge to manage risks and keep them safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff available to support people and staff had been recruited safely. Medication records evidenced that medications had been given in a safe way.

Assessments completed took into account people’s needs under the equality act. People’s rights were upheld as they were supported by staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. Staff received training and support in order to support people effectively and people were supported to access healthcare services where required.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People had support with their communication needs and felt involved in decisions about their care. People were supported to maintain their independence where possible.

People were involved in the planning and review of their care. The provider was responsive in making changing to people’s planned care to ensure that people’s needs could be met. People knew how to make complaints and there was a system in place to investigate any complaints made.

Systems in place to monitor the quality of the service had not been completed consistently and areas for improvement had not always been acted upon in a timely way. People spoke positively about the management of the service and had been supported to provide feedback on their experiences.