Background to this inspection
Updated
18 May 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
The inspection was carried out 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.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
At the time of our inspection the manager was undergoing registration with the Commission.
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 manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 12 April 2022 and ended on 21 April 2022. We visited the location’s office on 12 April 2022.
What we did before 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 information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service and received feedbacks. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the team leader, support workers and the provider who was also the manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included the two people’s care records, risk assessments and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the home.
Updated
18 May 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
Better Lives Supported Living provides personal care for up to two people aged between 18 and 65 years, who have a learning disability and autism in their supported living accommodation. At the time of our inspection, two people were using the service.
Everyone who used the service at te time of our inspection 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service applied the principles and values of ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ and other best practice guidance. People told us that they were very happy with the care they received from Better Lives Supported Living.
Right Support - The model of care and setting maximises people's choice, control and independence. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
Right Care - Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy and human rights. People's support plans clearly detailed their care and support needs. People and their relatives were fully involved with the care planning process. The service had developed support plans which clearly detailed people’s likes, dislikes and preferences. Care had been delivered in line with people’s choices. People and their relatives said all staff were caring, respectful, and treated them with dignity.
Right culture - Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. There was a positive leadership in the home. The service provision was well led by a management team who led by example and had embedded an open and honest culture.
People were supported by staff that had been recruited safely and had checks undertaken to ensure they were suitable for their role.
Medicines were managed safely and people received them as prescribed.
Staff encouraged people to actively participate in activities, pursue their interests and to maintain relationships with people who mattered to them.
People received the support they needed to stay healthy and to access healthcare services. People were supported to eat and drink enough to meet their needs.
There were enough staff to keep people safe. The manager had appropriate arrangements in place to ensure there were always enough staff on shift.
Each person had an up to date, person centred care plan, which set out how their care and support needs should be met by staff. These were reviewed regularly.
Staff received regular training and supervision to help them meet people's needs effectively.
Staff showed they were caring, and they treated people with dignity and respect and ensured people's privacy was maintained, particularly when being supported with their personal care needs.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the home supported this practice.
The manager ensured the complaints procedure was made available in an accessible format if people wished to make a complaint. Regular checks and reviews of the home made to ensure people experienced good quality safe care and support.
People and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about how the home could be improved. This was used to make changes and improvements that people wanted.
The manager provided good leadership. They checked staff were focussed on people experiencing good quality care and support.
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 08 February 2021 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 us.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.