East Sussex Community Support Service

Updated 7 December 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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats and in three supported living settings. 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 two registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that a registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 30 September 2022 and ended on 19 October 2022. We visited the location’s office on 30 September and the supported living accommodation on the 12 October. Further information was gathered from relatives and professionals on the 19 October.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. 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 looked at the notifications and any safeguarding alerts we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and lived in supported living accommodation and one person who was supported within their own accommodation on the telephone. We spoke to four relatives and three professionals involved in people’s care and support. We spoke to several staff including both registered managers and the operations manager, a team leader, two senior support workers, three support workers and an administrator.

We spent time observing people within the supported living accommodation and observed the interaction between people and staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and 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 were viewed, including health and safety records and quality audits.

Updated 7 December 2022

About the service

East Sussex Community Support Service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats and supported living accommodation. It provides a service to people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder.

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.

East Sussex Community Support Service provided support to 67 people with a learning disability in the community. At the time of this inspection two people received support with personal care which is a regulated activity registered by CQC. Personal care includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where this is provided, we also take into account any wider social care provided. East Sussex Community Support Services also supported people who lived in three separate supported living accommodation. Eight people within these settings received a regulated activity. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living. This inspection focused on the care and support provided to the ten people where they received a service registered by CQC.

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

Right Support:

Staff focused and supported people’s strengths and promoted what they could do for themselves. They understood the importance of people being as independent as possible, and the fulfilment this gave people.

People were supported to be busy and to have fulfilling lives. One relative said, “He is a fun-loving likeable chap and staff support him to maintain this lifestyle”.

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. Staff knew people well and communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

People’s health care needs were monitored to ensure they received the support they required, and referrals were made in a timely manner. Medicines management systems were robust, so people received their medicines in line with prescription guidelines.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff were committed to their work and told us, “I like making a difference and improving people’s lives”. Another said, “We have a great team, we all believe in what we are doing. We form good relationships with clients and we all care”.

Staff knew people as individuals and responded to their different needs. Choices were provided to people in relation to their day to day support and how people wished to spend their time and staff communicated with people in the way they preferred. People were relaxed and happy in the company of staff. One person said, “The staff are kind and nice”. One relative said, “I know he is happy with the staff as he is always so keen to return to them when he has been out with me”. Another said, “The staff do a great job, they know him so well”.

Staff were aware of people’s support needs in relation to their sensory and emotional support. They were aware of triggers to people’s anxiety and how to support them during times of distress. Staff were aware of their responsibility to protect people from potential abuse and concerns were reported and investigated in line with good practice and requirements.

Right Culture:

The new management team have worked hard at promoting a positive and inclusive environment where people and staff felt valued and empowered. The registered managers were providing effective leadership and direction for the service.

Staff understood and demonstrated their commitment to the values and ethos of the service that put people at the centre of all care and support provided. Staff were responsive, supporting people with their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff spoke positively about people’s achievements and we saw how they encouraged them to be as independent as possible.

People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Staff spoke positively about the management team, and the support they received. One staff member said, “It’s a great team here and a good place to work. You can talk to the manager at any time”.

Quality systems were well established and ensured the positive ethos and underpinning values that included the FREDA principles (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity and Autonomy) were embedded into practice.

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 25 August 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service at the previous premises was Good, published on 21 March 2018.

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.