Background to this inspection
Updated
13 August 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
Day one of the inspection was carried out by two inspectors, which included a visit to one of the supported living settings. One inspector carried out the subsequent parts of the inspection including a visit to the provider’s other supported living setting.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in two ‘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
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
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, service manager and support workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two 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.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
13 August 2021
About the service
Consensus Community Support Limited- East Hill Place is a supported living service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The provider supported people with a learning disability and/or mental health need. At the time of our inspection they were supporting 14 people who lived in two separate supported living settings. One of the supported living settings is a specialist service supporting people who live with Prader-Willi Syndrome. Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic condition that causes a wide range of physical symptoms, learning difficulties and behavioural problems.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were happy with their care. They were comfortable in staff’s presence and felt secure in raising issues or concerns. People were safeguarded from the risk of suffering abuse or coming to avoidable harm. The provider had an open and transparent approach where people, relatives and professionals were kept informed about key events related to care.
The registered manager had overseen sustained improvements since our last inspection. They had ensured that the service was no longer in breach of regulations and had put in place systems to promote good quality care.
The provider had systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of care. The provider had met regulatory requirements around submitting statutory notifications and the registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported 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. People were supported to have choice and control around their care. Staff encouraged people to weigh up decisions, whilst respecting their right to make unwise choices if they had the capacity to do so. Staff were focussed on supporting people to work towards positive outcomes in relation to their health, wellbeing and independence. People were comfortable and settled in their homes and with their care arrangements.
Risks related to people’s health, medical conditions and behaviour were assessed and reduced. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and had received appropriate training and support in their role.
There were systems in place to gain feedback about the quality of care and ensure complaints were handled in line with the provider’s policy.
People’s care plans were detailed, containing information about their health, personal care routines and medicines. There were safe systems in place to support people to manage their medicines and good examples of how people were supported to become more independent in this area.
There were enough staff in place who had gone through appropriate recruitment checks to help ensure they were suitable in their role. Staff were caring and responsive to people’s needs.
The provider worked well with external stakeholders to meet people’s changing needs and ensure people had smooth transitions when moving between different services.
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 23 October 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.