Ings Plus

Updated 6 August 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

Two Inspectors, a member of the CQC medicines team 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 their own homes so 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 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started when we visited the locations office on 5 July 2022 and ended on 8 July 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited four addresses and met with five people who used the service to get their feedback about the care provided. Where people were unable to talk with us, we used observation to help us understand their experience of using the service. We also met with eight staff including, care staff, team care manager, manager and operations manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and numerous medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

Following our visit, we spoke by telephone with the relatives of two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with two health professionals. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 6 August 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

Ings Plus is a supported living service providing personal care to eight people in six addresses. Support is primarily provided to people with learning disabilities and autistic people. People live in individual or shared houses within the community. 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.

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

The provider's quality assurance systems were not always effective in identifying and addressing issues.

People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their homes.

People were supported to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence and they had control over their own lives. People chose how to spend their day and staff encouraged people to make their own decisions.

People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. One person told us about their interests and future goals. Another person told us about their training delivery course, they were proud of their achievements.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

Staff communicated effectively with people. Staff told us how best to communicate with people and how to adapt to enable people to participate fully in the conversation.

People accessed specialist health and social care support in the community. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

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. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. Staff had been recruited safely and all relevant pre-employment checks had been taken.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Documents were printed in easy read formats and each person had a communication passport.

People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right culture

The provider had restructured the management team. As part of the changes, local managers were more visible. This helped reduce the risks of closed cultures. The management team were passionate about creating a culture where people's wishes, needs and rights were at the heart of the service.

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff told us their main reasons for working was to enable people to be independent and live fulfilling lives.

People's quality of life was enhanced by the service's culture of improvement and inclusivity. People were actively encouraged to be involved in the community. The location of the homes were within an easy walk of local amenities.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service under the previous address was Good (published 2 October 2019).

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

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have made a recommendation in relation to governance systems.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.