Updated 20 January 2024
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 3 inspectors.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in 4 ‘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 was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us. We also wanted to cause minimal disruption to people who may have complex mental health needs and/or a learning disability which could have been affected by an unannounced inspection.
Inspection activity started on 6 December and ended on 12 December 2023. We visited the location’s office on 12 December 2023.
What we did before the inspection
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 reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
During the inspection we visited all 4 supported living services for this registered location. We spent time talking with 8 people who lived across the 4 supported living services. We also spoke with 1 relative. We spoke with 6 support staff, 3 team managers, the registered manager, the operations manager, and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also observed staff interacting with people within their own apartments and also in outside areas.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people’s care records, medication administration records and the daily notes recorded by care staff. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies, procedures and training records.
After the inspection we sent a questionnaire to all support staff to ask them about their experiences of working for this provider. We received 23 responses.