Waterlees Supported Living Service

Updated 28 April 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

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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 the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 27 February 2023 when we visited the service and ended on 1 March 2023 when we made telephone calls to people, their relatives and staff.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 spoke with 5 people and 4 relatives of people who used the service. We spoke to 6 staff including the registered manager, the area manager and care staff. We case tracked 3 people including their care plans, monitoring and medicine records. We reviewed staff recruitment and training records and a variety of records relating to the governance and oversight of the service.

We communicated with the registered manager after the site visit and requested some further evidence.

Updated 28 April 2023

About the service

Waterlees supported living service provides personal care to people living in their own flats in a sheltered housing complex. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people living with a learning disability and/or autistic spectrum disorder who were using the service. 7 people were receiving personal care.

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.

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. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do through robust positive risk taking, so people led fulfilling and meaningful lives. People and their relatives confirmed this.

People were supported to maintain and pursue their interests and to achieve their aspirations and goals. People and relatives were able to describe the outcomes they achieved as a result of their care and support. Outcomes included development of independence and being actively involved in their local community. People received their medicines as prescribed. We identified some minor documentation issues around recording and monitoring of incidents of distress, which was rectified by the registered manager immediately.

Right Care

People received care and support from staff who knew them well and understood their individual needs and considered their preferences. Staff understood people’s individual ways of communicating and spoke about them with respect. Staff could recognise and report abuse and there were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff supported people to stay safe and maintain their well-being.

Right Culture

The culture of the service was open and empowered individuals to express their views and be in control of their lives with the support of staff. People received support based on inclusion, respect and transparency. People and their relatives told us they felt confident to approach the management team and that their suggestions would be listened and responded to. A range of quality checks with oversight at provider level helped to maintain and improve the service and the lives of people supported.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 8 June 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Waterlees Supported Living Service on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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