Community Living Ltd

Updated 21 October 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 undertaken 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.

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. 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 used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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.

During the inspection

We attended the registered office and spoke to the registered manager and the nominated individual. We reviewed four staff records, two people’s care and support plans and records relating to the management of the service. We also attended the supported living service to meet the two people who were using the service. They were unable to verbally communicate with us but staff helped to translate the sign language people were using and we were able to observe their interactions with staff. We spoke with three care staff and reviewed medicines management arrangements.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We also spoke with two relatives, one person’s social worker, two staff from the mental health learning disability team supporting a person using the service and the behavioural therapist working with the service.

Updated 21 October 2021

About the service

Community Living Ltd provides a supported living service for up to eight people living with mental health needs and learning disabilities and/or autism. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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. At the time of our inspection two people were receiving support with their personal care. One person was living in a multiple occupancy home. The other person had their own self-contained flat.

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

People were protected from the risk of abuse and relatives told us they felt their family members were safe at the service. Risk management plans identified the types of risks to people’s safety at the service and in the community, and how to support people and others to mitigate those risks and remain safe. Staff had learnt from incidents and used them to further improve their knowledge of the people they were supporting. This included why the incident occurred and to identify if it was related to a person’s frustration or having difficulties communicating their needs and wishes. The frequency and intensity of incidents had decreased since people moved into the service. People received their medicines as prescribed.

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.

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. The staff put people receiving support at the centre of the service and a personalised service was provided that met people’s individual needs. Staff empowered people to make their own decisions and be in control of their lives as much as possible. The staff were working with people to help them achieve their goals and good outcomes.

People were treated well and staff were respectful in how they interacted, spoke with and talked about people. Staff were aware of people’s cultural backgrounds and any religious preferences. They provided support that respected people’s preferences and provided support which identified and promoted people’s heritage. People’s privacy and dignity was promoted and respected. As people were developing their daily living skills and their independence, staff were able to give people more space and privacy.

Staff were supporting people to develop their daily living skills and to become more independent with their personal care needs. Staff were also working with people to recognise and manage their emotions. Staff were aware of how people communicated and supported them to communicate, this included the use of non-verbal communication. Staff had supported people to integrate into the community.

Safe recruitment practices were in place and people were supported by experienced staff that were of good character. There were sufficient numbers of staff to provide people with the level of support they required. Staff rotas clearly identified which staff were allocated to support particular individuals at the service to ensure they received the level of support they required. Competency assessments were undertaken to ensure staff retained information they learnt during training and had the skills to undertake their role safely.

Governance systems were in place to review the quality and safety of the service and the support people received. However, we found that some of these processes needed formalising. This included particular audits and feedback mechanisms. The staff worked in partnership with people’s healthcare teams to ensure they received the level of support they required. The team were highly motivated and dedicated to providing high quality care. The provider took on board advice from healthcare professionals in order to improve practices.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 November 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the length of time since the service registered with the CQC.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service.