Brighton Supported Living

Updated 22 February 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.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 3 houses where people receive ‘supported living’ arrangements, 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 2 working days notice of the inspection. This was because the service is provided across several locations 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 29 November 2022 when we visited the office and ended on 8 December 2022 when we gave feedback. We visited people in their homes on 5 December 2022 and 6 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed the information we received from and about the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met with 3 people in their homes. We spoke with the registered manager and 12 members of staff including a senior manager. We looked at 5 people’s care plans and 6 staff recruitment files.

Following our visits, we continued to review these records along with a range of documents relating to staffing, staff training records, policies, audits and governance. We spoke with 2 people’s relatives and 3 professionals who knew the service.

Updated 22 February 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

63 Lustrells Vale is a supported living service registered to provide personal care to people with a learning disability and autistic people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 7 people being supported with personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive a regulated activity of personal care.

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

Right Support: People were supported to live in their community as independently as possible. People were encouraged to make choices about their lifestyle which were individual to them, this meant people’s activities and pass-times were meaningful to them. People told us they were supported to do the things they were interested in.

There were enough trained staff to meet people’s needs and provide safe support. Staff had been safely recruited and had time to get to know people’s needs, risks and preferences. People told us they felt safe and that staff knew them well.

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: People were supported in a person centred way and their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff understood people’s risks and choices and how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm.

People were encouraged to set goals and develop their independence and networks. Staff and managers worked in partnership with people’s health, social care and housing support to ensure their wider needs were identified and supported with them. People felt their social interests and individuality were valued by staff.

Right Culture: Systems were in place to ensure the quality of care and support was reviewed with people to drive improvements. Managers and staff felt supported and were proud of their roles, and the achievements experienced by people. There were active plans to identify and make improvements to people’s experiences.

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 the service at the previous premises was good (published 14 August 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staff recruitment and training, assessment and monitoring of people’s needs, and governance of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

Follow up

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