Colkara Care and Support Ltd

Updated 2 November 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

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘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.

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

We gave short period notice of this inspection to gather people’s consent to visit them at the supported living service.

Inspection activity started on 14 October 2022 and ended on 17 October 2022. We visited the supported living service on 17 October 2022.

What we did before the inspection

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 spoke with the person using the service and spoke with three staff including the registered manager and two support workers. We reviewed the person’s care records and records relating to staffing and the management of the service.

Updated 2 November 2022

About the service

Colkara Care and Support Ltd is a supported living service providing personal care and support for up to six people who have a learning disability and/or autism. The service can support people with a secondary diagnosis of a mental health need. At the time of our inspection one person was using the service.

Not everyone who used the service has to receive 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.

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

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.

Right Support:

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. People had ownership over the care and support they received and how this was delivered. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful life everyday. Staff supported people to achieve their aspirations and goals, and there was a strong focus on supporting people to develop daily living skills. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community, and closely liaised with other professionals involved in people’s care. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs and supported them to express their views. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were involved in choosing who they received support from and who their key worker was. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks. People were aware of what restrictions were in place regarding risk management and agreed with the strategies in place in order to keep them and others safe. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People had access to their care plans and understood what they said. 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.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care and support because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person and other professionals as appropriate. The registered manager was building links in the community to further integrate the service and people living there. The registered manager was open and approachable. We observed people and staff speaking openly with them.

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 23 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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