Dolphin Homes Ltd Supported Living Services Office

Updated 5 January 2026

We carried out this inspection from 6 January 2026 to 26 January 2026. The service is a supported living service, providing support to people within their own homes, including people requiring support with their mental health, people with a learning disability and autistic people. There were 22 people in receipt of a regulated activity at the time of the inspection. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This means help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

We assessed this service due to receiving information of concern. We inspected 33 quality statements. This service had previously been rated requires improvement.

We found 2 breaches of regulations in relation to person-centred care and governance.

People’s assessed needs were not always managed safely. People were not always supported to eat healthily and were not always engaged in meaningful activities. Medicines were not always managed safely. The provider’s internal monitoring systems failed to identify all of the concerns we found during this inspection and robust action had therefore not been taken to make improvements. The registered manager and provider were motivated to improve the service and started addressing these shortfalls during the inspection.

People were supported to have choice and control in some areas, could give feedback on their care, and were supported by staff who knew them well and treated them with kindness and respect.

Staff were recruited safely and received appropriate training and supervision. Staff were trained to respond and raise safeguarding concerns both internally and to external agencies.

The service learned from incidents and action was taken to ensure improvements were made where needed.

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choice, independence, and good access to local communities which most people take for granted. We found people did not always receive care and support in accordance with the principles of this guidance.

Updated 5 January 2026

We spoke with some people and their relatives and used observation to assess whether people received good care. We found people could benefit from being involved in more meaningful activities with staff both inside and outside of the home.

One person told us they liked the staff and felt safe, they could make everyday choices, and their family could visit whenever they wanted.

During the inspection, we received mixed feedback from relatives. Some relatives told us they had concerns about an ongoing infection, prevention and control (IPC) issue, what people were eating and the lack of meaningful activities. One relative told us, “They keep my relative safe but could enhance their quality of life.”

Another relative told us, “My relative trusts the staff. If my relative was ill or upset the staff would do all they can to support them. They are kind and always make sure my relative is ok.” Another relative told us, “My relative has access to their care plans. I was involved right at the beginning, and I can see them anytime, to be honest we just talk about things as they come up. I have no concerns.” Most relatives also told us staff were caring.