Ordinary Living

Updated 22 February 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. 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 8 ‘supported living’ settings, 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there were two registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and we wanted to be sure there would be a manager available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 12 January 2023 and ended on 23 January 2023. We visited the office location on 12 and 19 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered with CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with 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 met with 8 people who used the service, the registered provider and 6 members of staff including the 2 registered managers. We spoke with a further 5 members of staff on the phone and 5 relatives. We received feedback from 6 external professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including rotas, medicine administration records and policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 22 February 2023

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

Ordinary Living is a supported living service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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. At the time of the inspection 11 people were receiving support with personal care.

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

Right Support

¿ Staff had not always worked with people to identify goals and aspirations. Where goals had been identified there were no clear plans to help people achieve them.

¿ There was a lack of oversight of the restrictive practices in place. This meant they might not be reviewed regularly to ensure they remained proportionate and the least restrictive option.

¿ When people experienced periods of distress staff learned from those events and considered how they might be avoided in the future.

¿ Staff supported and encouraged people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

¿ Staff supported people with their medicines, so they received them as prescribed. There were protocols in place for staff to follow before administering medicines to be used ‘as required’.

¿ People were supported to have choice and control and records showed staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies in the service supported this practice. However, there was a lack of oversight of the restrictions in place. This meant opportunities to reduce restrictions might be missed.

Right Care:

¿ People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.

¿ Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

¿ The service had enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

¿ Not all staff had received training in supporting autistic people or people with a learning disability. Some staff had not had any training in alternative communication methods.

Right Culture:

¿ Systems for monitoring the culture of the service were limited. Audits that did address people’s experience of receiving support from Ordinary Living were not well established.

¿ There was a strong management team in place and staff told us they were well supported and able to access support and guidance when needed.

¿ Relatives were positive about the management of the service. During the inspection senior managers were open and transparent during the inspection process and demonstrated motivation to make improvements.

¿ Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

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 this service was requires improvement (published 26 May 2022).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found although the provider had met some of the previous breaches they remained in breach of regulations. This was in relation to the provision of care which reflected people's needs and preferences, and the oversight of the service.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good.