Warwickshire Supported Living Service

Updated 19 May 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 is a domiciliary care agency. It provides supported living and personal care to people living in their own homes.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave short notice on 28 April 2023 to the registered manager. This was so they would be available to support the inspection process.

Inspection activity started on 28 April 2023 and ended on 10 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. The local authority purchase packages of care when people do not purchase their own care and support. We used 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 used all the information service to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

This inspection was carried out using technology such as video calls, telephone calls and email to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff. We used electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. We also undertook a site visit to the provider’s office.

We spoke with 2 people and 2 relatives to gain their feedback on the service. Additionally, we spoke with the registered manager and gained feedback from 15 care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s full care plans and records related to risk management. We also looked at assessments, reviews of people's care and medicine administration records. We looked at a variety of documents relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring checks. We reviewed 3 staff recruitment files.

Updated 19 May 2023

About the service

Warwickshire Supported Living Service is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes, with up to 24-hour support. The service is registered to provide support to younger adults with mental health needs who may have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder or sensory impairments. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 4 people. 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

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.

Right Support: 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.

Where people lacked mental capacity staff worked within the remit of the Mental Capacity Act. Where decisions needed to be made, the Court of Protection was referred to on behalf of people. Local multi-disciplinary teams were involved in making decisions about people’s support and any restrictions imposed on people to mitigate risks of avoidable harm.

Staff were recruited in line with the provider’s policy with pre-employment checks completed. Staff had been trained and had the skills to complete agreed support tasks

Right Care: Care is person centered and promotes people's dignity, privacy and human rights. People’s care, treatment and support plans gave staff the information they needed to provide safe care. Risk management plans provided detail on the safe actions staff should take to ensure risks of harm or injury to people were minimised and staff followed guidance.

Staff ensured people’s rights and dignity were promoted and protected within the agreed risk management plans of care. Infection, prevention and control was managed well.

People and a relative said they felt safe with staff in their homes. Staff understood how to protect people from the risks of abuse and how to report any concerns.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inlclusive and empowered lives.

The registered manager had good oversight of the service. Quality checks took place and identified where improvements were needed and actions were taken.

The registered manager had ensured we (CQC) were informed about incidents we should be legally told about.

Feedback was sought from people, relatives and staff about how they felt about the service they received. This feedback was positive about the hands-on caring approach by staff. The registered manager was open to feedback and was willing to learn lessons and make further improvements to strengthen the quality of the service. Staff were valued and said they felt supported by the registered manager.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 21 December 2020). Breaches of regulations 12 safe care and treatment and 17 good governance were found. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We had also received information of concern from Ofsted. Ofsted are responsible for inspecting the care standards of children’s home and had found failings with the provider related to their children's services.

Follow up

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