Creative Support - Lanchester Court

Updated 28 January 2022

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 one inspector who visited Creative Support Lanchester Court on 7 December 2021.

Service and service type

Creative Support Lancaster Court provides a supported living service to people who occupy their own home and tenancy. CQC regulates the personal care provided.

The service had a registered manager. This means the registered manager 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

We gave short notice of the inspection because of the risks associated with COVID-19. This meant that we could discuss how to ensure everyone remained safe during the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used any information the provider had sent us from their annual Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information we held, such as people and relatives’ feedback and statutory notifications, as well as information shared with us by the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who received a service to get their experiences about the quality of service. In the report, we refer to them as person or people and our judgements are based on their experience. We spoke with two members of care staff. We also spoke with the registered manager and area manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s care records and samples of medication records and daily records. We also looked at two staff recruitment files and records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service, especially around managing risk, medicines management, complaints, compliments and systems to manage care call timings.

Updated 28 January 2022

About the service

Creative Support Lanchester Court is a supported living service offering care and support to people with a learning disability, autism and mental health needs. Lanchester Court has 17 individual dwellings. At the time of our visit, 14 people lived in their own property and they received support from staff. Not everyone who used the service received a regulated activity of personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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.

For this inspection, only one person received a regulated activity. This report and our judgements are based on the one person who received support with personal care and their wider social support and engagement.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

There was a positive, open and inclusive culture that put people at the heart of the service. The management team provided strong and clear leadership and led by example. There was a strong focus on continuous improvement and ensuring best practice, such as learning from previous CQC inspections at the provider’s other locations.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The person receiving a regulated activity, received a service that was exceptionally personalised that supported them to make choices and develop their independence. We saw the person had been supported to move into their own home and enjoy a meaningful and fulfilled lifestyle, with community involvement and support to develop and foster new relationships. One person staff supported told us about their goals and wishes for the future and the support that was put in place to help them achieve them this.

Staff went the extra mile to ensure the person's communication needs were met. Time was spent with the person to enable staff to fully understand their needs and staff had time to work with them to find solutions. Alternative communication methods were used such as assistive technologies or pictorial forms, all of which were tailored to the person's individual needs, choices and preference.

The use of assistive technologies and specialist equipment helped the person to live an independent life as possible and put them in control of what happened next. For example, for one person, the provider installed a video doorbell and electronic door openings. These adaptations put the person in control of who they wanted in their home without causing them any distress and which helped them feel safe in their own home.

One person who received support said staff were kind and caring towards them and always willing to do what was needed and expected of them.

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 provider made sure people were cared for by staff who attended training relevant to their roles, but who also received bespoke training to help them care for people with specific health conditions and mental health. Assessments were completed before care was provided. This helped to ensure staff had the relevant skills and knowledge to meet a person’s needs before a care package commenced.

People were safe because staff were recruited safely. Staff and the provider knew how to keep people safe and protected from abusive practice. Systems to learn lessons when things went wrong helped to drive improvements and the registered manager notified us and the relevant bodies at the right times.

For the person receiving a regulated activity, their plans of care were detailed for staff to provide safe care. Staff’s knowledge of how to support the person was consistent with their care records and what we had been told. Staff said there was limited or no reliance on agency staff, which meant the staff team worked well together because they knew people really well and their preferred and individual routines. Staff told us team morale was high. One staff member said, “We all work here because we want to.”

Risks related to one person's care were recorded and reviewed. There were instructions for staff to follow to manage those identified risks and when risks increased, further support and medical intervention was sought. In the examples we saw, intervention by occupational therapist and specialist services had been sought to help keep people safe, but to also increase their independence.

Staff followed infection control procedures in line with national guidance for reducing the spread of COVID-19. Regular cleaning took place in communal areas and everyone living at the service were encouraged to keep their own homes clean. Regular checks ensured the premises and people’s home remained safe.

Regular audits and quality checks were completed to help drive standards within the home. The person and staff were complimentary of the management team who they said was effective, approachable, listened and acted when necessary.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 3 April 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was first registered with the CQC.

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.