Background to this inspection
Updated
29 June 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was completed by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, 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.
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.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We received
information of concern from whistle-blowers, the local authority and professionals who work with the service prior to the inspection in respect of people's safety. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
One person who used the service consented to speak with us. We spoke with five members of staff including the operations manager, the registered manager, the new manager and two carer staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. Two people’s finance records, two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with three relatives about their experience of the care provided and one professional who supports a person receiving the service.
Updated
29 June 2021
About the service
Proactive life is a supported living service with 36 self-contained flats people rent. The service offers personal care to adults of all ages with a learning disability/autism or mental health needs. Personal care was provided to three people at the time of the inspection. People's flats are within a complex of three attached houses. The service is on a main road in a residential area in Hockley.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care and 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
Systems and processes to keep people safe were in place, staff understood and knew how to use these. Risks to people were assessed and control measures to mitigate risks were detailed and known by staff. People’s medicines were safely managed and administered as prescribed.
There was a new management team who maintained and developed their oversight of the service delivery through robust audits and involvement of staff and people in the way care was provided.
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 CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. People lived in their own homes and were supported and involved in all aspects of their care so far as was possible. People were supported to develop confidence and live as independently as possible. Staff did not wear anything that suggested they were care staff when supporting people.
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 13 December 2019).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about people’s safety in relation to finances and medicines management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Proactive Life Birmingham on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.
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.