Birmingham Supported Living Service

Updated 1 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 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 not a registered manager in post. An application has been submitted for a new registered manager. It was explained by the management team how the service is currently being managed.

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 the manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 sought feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Inspection activity started on the 21 November and ended on the 6 December 2022. We visited the location’s office and 2 of the service locations on the 22 November 2022 and spoke to 2 people.

We spoke with the management team which included the new manager. We spoke with 7 staff members. 2 relatives and 2 people using the service. We spoke to 2 professionals. We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 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 policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 1 February 2023

About the service

Birmingham Supported Living Service is a supported living service providing personal care. The service provides support to younger adults with learning disabilities and mental health. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. In this service, the Care Quality Commission can only inspect the service received by people who get support with personal care. This includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people receive such support, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

The service was not able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of underpinning principles of “Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture.

Right support

It was not always clear people had the right to choose a different care provider if they wanted. Use of systems and processes needed to be more robust to ensure people were not at the risk of abuse. Improvement was needed on the oversight of the service as we identified issues which were not picked up during the provider’s internal audit. People were supported to have medication safely.

People were involved in choosing staff to support them. Staff gave people choice, control and independence. One person who use the service had worked with staff and now they can access the community independently and with confidence.

Right care

People received person centred care and staff understood how to ensure people’s dignity and privacy was maintained. The management team ensured staff had regular supervisions and that their training was up to date which enabled staff to deliver the right care to people. The staff encouraged people to maintain their independence. The service provided information in accessible format which allowed people to understand the care they should expect from the service.

Right culture

We saw that staff were supported to work in a positive environment, this had a positive impact on people as they were supported by a consistent staff team. People and staff were encouraged to share their views on the quality of the service they received. Staff were trained to carry out their role. People’s needs were assessed before using the service.

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 application of the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice and improvements were needed.

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 the 27 May 2021,and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out as the service was not rated.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.