NAS Community Services (Kent)

Updated 8 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

NAS Community Services (Kent) provides care and support to people living in one ‘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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We introduced ourselves to the one person who used the service, but they chose not to communicate with us in any of their preferred ways. The person said hello to the registered manager, by touching their hands. This person used a range of ways to communicate such as words, pictures, photos, body language and Makaton. Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate.

We telephoned two relatives to gain their experience of the care provided.

We spoke with two support members of staff, the registered manager and deputy area manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality checks and audits were reviewed.

Updated 8 June 2022

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.

About the service

NAS Community Services (Kent) is a supported living service providing personal care to one person at the time of the inspection.

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

People’s body language indicated they were relaxed and at ease in their home. People were supported by a small team of consistent staff, who knew them well. This was particularly important to autistic people who became anxious if there were unplanned changes to their daily routines. People benefitted from being supported by staff who knew how to communicate effectively with them.

There had been a lack of consistency in how well the service was managed. Staff had not received regular management support and quality checks had not been undertaken in line with the provider’s policy. The new management was working towards addressing these shortfalls. They had established a positive culture where staff felt supported and relatives’ views were heard. However, we found some additional areas for improvement in records relating to people’s medicines, incidents and goals. These were addressed after the inspection.

People’s quality of life was enhanced through links between people’s family and staff. They regularly consulted about people’s health, social and emotional well-being. Activities were arranged around people’s preferred routine and interests.

Staff had received training which reflected the individual needs of the people they supported. This included training in learning disability, autism and recognising and reducing people’s anxieties. Relatives told us people were safe, settled and comfortable with staff and their anxieties had reduced as a result.

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 service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support: People’s days were structured around their needs. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. People were supported by staff to choose and take part in activities which interested them. People benefitted from a stimulating environment which had been decorated according to their personal taste.

Right care: People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. People could communicate with staff because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Right culture: Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 7 October 2020 and this is the first inspection. The supported living service was previously registered with the same provider at a different location.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture. This is the service’s first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission.