C&O SLS Limited

Updated 23 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

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an expert by experience who made telephone calls to relatives. 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 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.

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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 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.

We visited the service on 4 and 5 December 2023.

During the inspection

We visited 1 of the supported living addresses. We spoke with 1 person who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 3 members of staff, the registered manager and director. We also received feedback from 4 health professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 people's care records and 3 people's medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at the provider's arrangements for managing risk and medicines management, staff training data, complaints, and the provider's quality assurance arrangements.

Updated 23 December 2023

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.

About the service

C & O SLS Limited support people to live independently in their own homes. The service currently provides personal care and support to 8 people. A supported living service enables people to live independently in their own home and receive care and support without total reliance on parents or guardians.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, Right care, Right culture. However minor improvements were required to staff recruitment files. We have made a recommendation about the management of staff recruitment files.

Right Support:

Care and support were provided in a safe, homely, well equipped, well-furnished environment which met people's physical and sensory needs. People living at the service had adapted their bedrooms to their likings. People's independence was promoted.

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:

There was limited information in the support plans we reviewed relating to people's end of life wishes. We have made a recommendation about end of life wishes.

Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way which was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and to learn lessons from accidents and incidents. Medication was dispensed by staff who had received training to do so and assessed as competent.

Right Culture:

Support focused on quality of life and followed best practice. Staff involved people, their family and other professionals as appropriate to evaluate the quality of support given and obtain feedback to improve people’s day to day quality of life. People living at the service made choices and took part in meaningful activities which were part of their planned care and support. Staff supported them to achieve their aspiration and goals.

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

Rating at last inspection

The rating at the last inspection was good (published 5 October 2017).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, responsive, and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for C&O SLS Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about staffing and recruitment and end of life wishes.

Follow up

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