The Focus Foundation

Updated 3 August 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 is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats as well as providing care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. At the time of inspection, although they were registered to support people in a supported living setting, this was not being undertaken. In 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 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 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 held about the provider and the service. This included information we had received from the service regarding any incidents or accidents and any feedback received from the public and professionals. 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

During our inspection we spoke with 2 people, 3 relatives and a professional. We also spoke with the nominated individual, registered manager, 2 service managers, 1 senior support worker and 5 care staff completed a questionnaire we sent them. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at the care records for 3 people and various medicines records. We checked that the care they received matched the information in their records. We looked at records relating to the management of the service, including audits carried out within service.

Updated 3 August 2023

About the service

The Focus Foundation is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service providing personal care to people. The service is run by a Jewish organisation to support members of the Jewish community. The service provides support to older people or younger adults who may live with a physical disability, learning disability or autism. At the time of this inspection the service supported 38 people, however 6 received support with their 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.

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: People were at the heart of the service and were respected and valued as individuals. People received exceptional care because staff and the management team were passionate about providing people with high-quality person-centred care. People were supported by staff with the skills and experience to provide excellent quality care and support, which included training to enable them to provide tailored support to meet individual needs and support them in their lifestyle choices.

There were several special examples of staff going the extra mile to ensure people received a tailor-made service. Staff continuously looked for ways to enhance the quality of people's lives. 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 demonstrated they understood people's diverse needs and respected their equality such as age, disability and gender.

Right Care: Staff were all respectful and understood people's cultural needs. Staff provided culturally appropriate care and support respecting family traditions, ways of living and communicating. People received excellent care and support from a dedicated staff team who knew people's needs exceptionally well. Staff were passionate about achieving the best outcomes for people to support them to live the life they wished. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so.

Right Culture: Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs, and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person and other professionals as appropriate. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that 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 22 July 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.