Background to this inspection
Updated
30 April 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
One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live 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.
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short notice period of the inspection because we wanted to be sure people would be at home to speak with us.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection, including notifications of significant incidents. We sought feedback from professionals who had worked with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and five members of staff. People who lived at the service were not able to tell us directly about the care and support they received. We therefore used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We checked two people’s care records, including their risk assessments and support plans, and the arrangements for managing medicines.
After the inspection
We spoke with six relatives, a friend and an advocate to hear their feedback about the care people received at the service. We received feedback from three health and social care professionals involved in people’s care.
We reviewed supporting information sent to us by the registered manager, including recruitment records for two staff, training records, incident analyses, audits, minutes of staff meetings and the results of satisfaction surveys completed by relatives.
Updated
30 April 2022
About the service
Bales Court is a supported living service which provides support to people in their own home. The service can accommodate up to eight people and was fully occupied at the time of our inspection.
The people who lived at the service at the time of our inspection were aged between 60 and 88 years old and all received personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Some people also had complex needs related to their age, health, mobility and learning disability.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right support:
Staff had the training and information they needed to provide people’s care in a safe way.
Staff managed risks well to keep people safe.
Staff managed people’s medicines safely and supported people to access healthcare services when they needed them.
The registered manager and staff were proactive in seeking way to improve people’s well-being and quality of life.
Staff supported people to identify their goals and aspirations and to live meaningful lives.
Right care:
Staffing levels were calculated based on people’s needs and people had access to staff when they needed them.
Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.
People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity.
People had opportunities to take part in activities they enjoyed and to access their local community.
Right culture:
The registered manager had created a culture in which staff valued people’s individuality and protected their rights.
Staff felt valued for the work they did and had opportunities to develop their skills and experience.
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.
Quality monitoring systems were effective in keeping people safe and ensuring they received good quality care.
The registered manager and staff had established effective relationships with other professionals involved in people’s care.
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 the service under the previous registered provider was Good, published on 9 August 2019.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date of the service’s registration under the current registered provider .
Follow up
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.