Tru Care Limited

Updated 25 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

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings and in their own homes 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we wanted to ensure the inspection could be facilitated.

Inspection activity started on 9 September 2022 and ended on 6 October 2022. We visited the location’s services and people’s homes where a regulated activity was taking place on 9 and 14 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we held about the service since its registration at the current address. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 6 people who used the service and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We reviewed parts of 3 people’s care records. We spoke with 6 members of staff on the days of our visits, including the registered manager. We received feedback from a further 9 staff by email. We reviewed 4 staff recruitment files. We received feedback from 3 health and social care professionals.

Updated 25 November 2022

About the service

Tru-care Limited is a service providing care to people in several supported living settings and to people in their own homes. The service is registered to provide care to autistic people and people with a learning disability. 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. There were 24 people receiving personal care across different locations at the time of the inspection.

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

Right Support:

Staff supported people to live as independently as possible and be in control of their daily lives. People were supported by staff to take up paid employment and voluntary work which helped them to maintain their independence and reduce the level of support they required from staff. People were provided with a choice in all their decision-making and families were involved where they wanted to be. People’s risks in relation to their care were managed well. Staff understood how to maintain and improve people’s independence, including taking positive risks. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and their individual one-to-one hours were met. We were assured that the service was following good infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures to keep people safe.

Right Care:

People and their relatives told us they felt supported by staff in a kind, caring and dignified way. People’s differences were respected by staff and they had undertaken relevant training to effectively support people. People told us that the care they received was consistent and that staff knew them well. Kitchen areas were always accessible to people and they were able to choose their meals with appropriate support from staff. People’s right to privacy was respected and staff encouraged people to regularly provide feedback about the care provided. Care plans were personalised and included information on people’s healthcare needs, preferences, challenges and hobbies. Services were located in residential streets and there were no outward signs to differentiate them from neighbouring properties. The properties were well maintained and reflected choices people made.

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.

Right Culture:

The culture of the service was open, inclusive and empowered people to live independent lives. Some improvements were required regarding the oversight of the service; these were fed back and positively embraced. Management needed to develop regular audits to look at ways of improving the service and identify issues. Policies and procedures were under review but needed to link to national guidance and reviewed when guidance was updated. People and their relatives felt their ideas and concerns would be listened to by management. People told us they felt that staff had helped them become more confident and independent. Staff were complimentary about the management of the service, felt valued and told us they were able to raise concerns with the manager.

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

Rating at last inspection

This last report was good and was published on 16 December 2021.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good.

Follow up

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