Kingdom Youth Services, Supported Living

Updated 23 March 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they had registered with CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 reviewed records and documents at the service location. We had a video call with one person who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records, including feedback from people’s relatives. We reviewed 3 people's health and care records, as well as communications from healthcare professionals. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. A wide variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records and a variety of other documents requested by the inspector. We spoke with 1 relative. We received feedback from 13 care staff. We also received feedback from 4 health and social care professionals who had frequent contact with the service.

Updated 23 March 2023

About the service

Kingdom Youth Services is a supported living service offering care and support to people in individual homes. The service supports adults with a learning disability, autistic people and people with other support needs including mental health or physical disability. At the time of the inspection 3 people were being supported with personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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. Three people were being supported with personal care at the time of our inspection.

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

It was noted during the inspection that the service was exceptionally person-centered and well led. People were treated as true individuals with the service striving to find out each person’s full potential and exploring ways to ensure these could be achieved. Staff were highly motivated by a supportive and skilled management team to perform to their very best. Staff spoke overwhelmingly positively about how much they enjoyed their job and what a great organisation Kingdom Youth Service was. This resulted in positive outcomes for people in many areas of their lives including less anxiety and opportunities to be engaged in meaningful and interesting education, employment and activities. The provider focused on ensuring people had small, but effective regular teams of staff focusing on providing the best individualised care. We received consistent, positive feedback from people, relatives, staff and external professionals about the service. People were fully involved in decisions about their care. For example, having an opportunity to deliver their own positive behaviour support plan to staff.

An equality, diversity and human rights approach to supporting people's privacy and dignity was well embedded in the service. People were provided with the support to live their lives in their chosen way, free from discrimination. This meant people were encouraged to live their life to the full and were supported to follow and pursue activities and education that were important to them. This included embracing new challenges and striving for success.

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 lived in their own homes and staff supported them to make their own choices, including being part of selecting their own support team. Staff focused on people's strengths and on what they could do to ensure they led a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Staff promoted people's independence and supported their access to the local community.

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 care:

People received kind and compassionate care and were supported in a person-centred way. People lived in their own homes and staff respected their privacy and dignity. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse and worked well with other agencies to achieve this. People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their health, mental wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture:

Kingdom Youth Services had a commitment to provide an inclusive, open and choice culture, supporting each individual to live their best life and achieve the positive outcomes they aspired to. They understood the importance of employing the right staff and providing the appropriate training, so they had the right knowledge and skills to provide the level of care and support required to meet the needs of each individual.

The leadership team and staff showed commitment and respect to those whom they supported. People received good quality care and support because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff spoke with passion and knowledge about their role, central to which was to empower those whom they supported to live their best life possible and in the least restrictive way. Staff told us how the needs and views of those whom they supported were paramount and must be respected at all times. The provider ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised and people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 4 January 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was a planned inspection following registration.

Follow up

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