Updated 22 May 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: One inspector and an expert by experience completed this inspection. 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: Mental Health Accommodation Based Services provides care and support to people living in a range of ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People also received support from the service in their own homes in the community. 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.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available to support the inspection and for staff to be available to talk with us about the service. Inspection site visit activity started on 7 May 2019 and ended on 8 May 2019 with telephone interviews. We visited office locations on 7 and 8 May 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service to plan the inspection. This included details of incidents the provider must notify us about such as safeguarding issues. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
During the inspection: We spoke with three people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the support provided by the service. We spoke with the registered manager, three managers and seven senior support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care files, records related to recruitment, staff training and supervision and multiple records related to the management of the service.