Phoenix Care & Support Services 24/7 Ltd

Updated 8 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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors 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 13 '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 the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 11 July 2023 and ended on 25 July 2023. We visited the location’s office on 11 July 2023. We visited people in their homes on 14 July 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 9 people who were supported by the service and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and received written feedback from 15 members of staff including care and support workers, registered manager, care manager, house manager, training manager and business development manager. We received written feedback from 3 health and social care professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. These included 4 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 8 August 2023

About the service

Phoenix Care & Support Services 24/7 Ltd is a domiciliary care and supported living provider delivering personal care and support to people in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people receiving a 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.

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:

Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Since the last inspection risk assessments had been improved to make them more specific to people’s individual risks. Positive risk taking was encouraged. People told us they felt safe. Their relatives and professionals agreed. People appeared calm and happy in staff company.

A familiar and consistent group of staff meant they knew people well and understood their specific needs. People and relatives knew how to complain should they need to and were confident timely and appropriate action would be taken to resolve issues. People were supported to maintain contact with family and friends and take part in activities of their choice.

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:

Recruitment procedures had improved since the last inspection and were now robust. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People received their medicines on time and as prescribed. Accidents and incidents were reported and follow up action taken including sharing learning to prevent recurrence.

Since the last inspection sensitive discussions had taken place with people to help ensure their preferences about end of life care were known and documented. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture:

Since our last inspection improvements had been made to the governance systems and oversight of the service. This helped to ensure and maintain care quality and safety. There was an open and supportive culture at the service. Staff got on with their colleagues, felt valued and enjoyed their work. Staff were supported and encouraged to take on new skills and qualifications.

Surveys were used to gather feedback from people, relatives and staff. Feedback was positive and all felt listened to. The management team were seen as approachable and very supportive. The service worked well with other organisations and recognised the benefits to people of establishing and maintaining links with the wider community.

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 requires improvement (published 4 February 2020).

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.