Background to this inspection
Updated
9 December 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.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in 3 ‘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 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 available to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 12 June 2023 and ended on 3 August 2023. Site visits to the supported living locations took place on 16, 21 June and 25 July 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 8 staff members including the registered manager, 3 senior staff, a director and 3 support workers. During our inspection people using the service were unavailable or did not wish to speak with us. However, we received feedback from a family member.
We reviewed a range of records including 4 people's care and medicines records, 3 staff records, policies and procedures and a range of records relating to the management and quality monitoring of the service.
Updated
9 December 2023
About the service
Ethos Care Family Services Limited provides supported living services to people living with mental health support needs. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 4 people across three locations. Each supported living house had an office and sleep in facilities for staff members.
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 autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports the CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who are autistic.
Right support: Staff demonstrated they understood the support people required. The registered manager and staff described how people’s anxieties and related behaviours had reduced over time. We saw confirmation of this in people’s care records and incident reports.
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’s care plans and risk assessments were person centred. Care plans contained guidance for staff in meeting people’s assessed needs. Staff understood people's wishes and preferences and spoke about them in a caring and and respectful manner. Staff encouraged people to do things for themselves and to take positive risks, such as participation in activities. Staff had engaged with people, health care professionals and other relevant individuals to support people's needs.
Right culture: People and those important to them, such as family members had been involved in planning their care and support. Staff worked with people to engage them in activities and support that met their expressed interests and preferences. Staff and managers had received training in supporting people’s individual needs. Staff were supported to discuss best practice for the people they supported in individual supervision sessions and team meetings. People were provided with the support they required to develop daily living skills and to access the local community as they wished. Staff members said they felt supported by the provider and received the information and support they required to do their work effectively. A relative told us they felt the service was well-managed.
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 29 November 2022 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.