We carried out a review of the data available to us about Harbour Supported Living Services on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Harbour Supported Living Services, you can give feedback on this service.
Harbour is a supported living service. 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. At the time of our inspection, the service was providing support to 95 people in total. Harbour Supported Living provided support to people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service received planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
People said they felt safe, medications were well organised and managed, and people had enough staff to support them. Incidents and accidents were documented and analysed for patterns and trends. Risk assessments were informative and contained detailed steps staff were expected to take if they felt someone was at risk of harm.
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 took part in regular training programmes and underwent supervisions and appraisals.
Staff were kind and caring. People enjoyed being supported by the staff, and they gave us examples of how staff supported them to become more independent
People were encouraged to set their own goals and aspirations. Some people attended community groups, voluntary work or undertook employment. The service actively supported people to live their life in the way they wanted to live it, whilst also encouraging people to develop their independence. People participated in activities and pastimes which were meaningful to them, both in the local and wider community. Staff took the time to get to know what people enjoyed doing and supported people with their chosen activities.
There was a registered manager in place and people spoke positively about them. The manager was aware of their roles and responsibilities. People had been engaged with and asked for their feedback, and there was good partnership working between the registered manager and the service manager. Audits took place and action plans were developed and allocated.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Rating at last inspection
At our last inspection, the service was rated "Good." (Report published 3 November 2016).
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
The manager was registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was not on duty at the time of this inspection as they were on annual leave.
We looked at the medication records for five people. The medication procedure for staff was to prompt people or to administer their medication. Records informed that support staff would record all medication on the provider’s medication record sheets. There was information in relation to covert medication practices for staff to follow, we were told that no person was receiving this service.
We looked at records relating to the safety of the office premises and its equipment, which were correctly recorded. We were shown where confidential records were stored in lockable filing cabinets and password protected on the computers.
People were supported to prepare food and drinks and could choose the meals that they prepared if this was part of their person centred care plans (PCCP). Where people’s weight changed this was recognised, with appropriate action taken to meet the person’s nutritional needs.
The provider complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its associated codes of practice in the delivery of care. We found that the staff followed the requirements and principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff we spoke with had an understanding of what their role was and what their obligations where in order to maintain people’s rights. The service was not providing support to any person who did not have the capacity to make their own decisions.
We found that the person centred care plans and risk assessment monthly review records were all up to date in the five files looked at on the service computerised system. There was updated information that reflected the changes of people’s health.
People told us they felt safe with staff. The management had a good understanding of safeguarding. The registered manager had responded appropriately to allegations of abuse and had ensured reporting to the local authority and the CQC as required.
Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored to ensure that appropriate action was taken to prevent further incidents. Staff knew what to do if any difficulties arose whilst supporting somebody, or if an accident happened.
The staffing levels were seen to be sufficient at all times to support people and meet their needs and everyone we spoke with considered there was adequate staff on duty.
The service ensured all new staff had a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Three of the four staff files looked at did not include a photograph of the staff. The staff personnel records did not include all of the relevant information required. We spent time discussing this with the management team.
We have made a recommendation about the information required for staff recruitment at the service.
The service had an induction programme in place that included training staff to ensure they were competent in the role they were doing at Harbour Supported Living Services. Staff told us they did feel supported by the provider, the registered manager, the office manager and senior support workers.
The five person-centred care plans we looked at gave details of people’s medical history and medication and information about the person’s life and their preferences. People were all registered with a local GP of their own choice and records showed that people were supported if required to see a GP, dentist, optician, and chiropodist or other health professional.
The majority of people who used the service had mental health needs. They were supported to attend an annual health check and encouraged to visit a dentist and optician. Some people lived in shared properties and others had a tenancy in their own flat. The largest supported living service accommodated seven people. Team leaders visited each house at least weekly, and sometimes daily. People had individual packages of care and a full range of support services was provided. The agency also provided some short term packages of support for people by request from the hospital admissions prevention team.
There were enough well qualified and experienced staff to ensure that people received the support that they required.
A written complaints procedure was in place and records showed that complaints people made were investigated and responded to appropriately.
There was a good standard of record keeping across all aspects of the service.
We spoke with five members of staff and they confirmed that they liked working at Harbour Supported Living Service.
We spoke with the local authority safeguarding team and they confirmed they had no concerns with this service.