Central Disability Supported Accommodation Services

Updated 26 April 2022

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

Three inspectors and an Expert by Experience carried out the 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

This service provides care and support to people living in seven ‘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.

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

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 23 March 2022 and ended on 28 March 2022. We visited the office location on 23 March 2022.

What we did before 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke / communicated with ten people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. Some people who used the service had limited communication and used different ways of communicating, including using gestures and their body language.

We spoke with 13 members of staff including the registered manager, support coordinators and support staff. We spent time observing people throughout the inspection to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. An Expert by Experience telephoned 11 relatives about their experience of the care provided for their relative. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We spoke with three professionals who visit the service.

Updated 26 April 2022

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

Central Disability Supported Accommodation Services (Central Disability Services) is a supported living service providing personal care for people with a learning disability, autistic people or mental health needs so they can live in their own home as independently as possible.

The service supported 42 people at the time of our inspection in a range of shared houses and a new build property with 20 single flats. Each property had either a sleep-in room for staff to use at night or staff who were awake all night (waking night staff).

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

Right Support

The service supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence be independent and they had control over their own lives. Assisted technology was effectively used to increase people’s independence and safety.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff knew people well and communicated with people in ways that met their needs, including the use of body language and gestures. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area.

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, environment that met their sensory and physical needs. The new build flats were designed to a high specification. People were able to personalise their rooms.

Right Care

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff had been safely recruited and felt well supported in their role.

People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. The risks people might face had been identified and measures were in place to manage these known risks.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Communication with people and their relatives was good. The service was looking to develop how they captured this feedback so it could be analysed across the whole service.

People and those important to them, were involved in planning their care. Quality assurance systems evaluated the quality of support provided to people. We have made a recommendation about the registered manager ensuring their monitoring systems had current information about the service.

People received good quality care and support because staff had the training to meet their needs and wishes. People were supported by a stable staff team, who understood their individual needs. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs.

Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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

Rating at last inspection and update:

This service was registered with us on 6 September 2019 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under their previous organisation name (MLDP Central Network) and at the previous premises was good, published on 20 March 2019. The legal entity of the service had changed, however the management and staff teams remained the same.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of right support right care, right culture.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the registered managers oversight of the quality assurance system.

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.