C&O SLS Limited

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.

We found the following examples of good practice.

Risk assessments had been carried out on people using services and staff belonging to higher risk groups and actions had been taken to reduce the risks.

The service used isolation effectively.

The Infection Prevention and Control Policy was regularly updated, including their COVID-19 IPC Policy.

Staff had all completed infection prevention and control training, and this included the correct procedures for using personal protective equipment (PPE).

There were appropriate procedures to ensure infection control risks were minimised.

The registered manager had contingency plans in place to prepare for an outbreak and manage any staff absences effectively.

The registered manager and director were very proud of their staff team and told us they had all done their upmost to keep the people they supported safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The service support people to live independently in their own homes. The service currently provides personal care and support to five 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 have tenancy agreements with a landlord and receive their care and support from a domiciliary care agency.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received a service that was highly responsive to their individual needs. Staff were committed and passionate about enabling people to live independently. The team worked creatively to support individuals to transition into an independent living environment whereby people were living in their own home.

Staff had an excellent understanding of people's needs and were able to encourage people to engage in activities to improve their health and wellbeing, meet their aspirations, preferences and goals. Staff were proud of the support that they provided to people and the positive relationships they had developed. People had been supported to make their accommodation a home that they were comfortable living in.

Detailed support plans were in place which reflected the person-centred care which people received. Support plans were detailed and written in easy read formats with pictures to support people’s understanding.

Staff had received training in how to recognise and report abuse. All staff were clear about how to report concerns and were confident that any allegations made would be fully investigated to help ensure people were protected.

Risk assessments clearly identified any risk and gave staff guidance on how to minimise the risk. They were designed to keep people and staff safe while enabling people to develop and maintain their independence.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of the people who used the service. People received care and support from regular staff that knew them well.

People received their medicines safely. There were policies and procedures in place. Staff administering medicines had been trained to do so.

New staff completed an induction to ensure they were aware of their roles and duties. They were provided with regular supervisions.

People received care from staff who had the knowledge and skills to meet their needs. Staff spoke about the people they supported positively and were committed to supporting people to be as independent as possible.

People were involved in the day to day running of the service. People were valued and supported to be as independent as possible. People's rights were upheld, consent was always sought before any support was given. Staff were aware of the legislation that ensured people were protected in respect of decision making and any restrictions and how this impacted on their day to day roles.

There was a positive culture in the service, the management team provided strong leadership and led by example. Management were visible and known to staff and all the people using the service.