31 October 2018
During a routine inspection
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.
There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A Registered Manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People were safeguarded from abuse and people’s risks were for assessed and plans were in place to manage these. People were supported by sufficient numbers of safely recruited and trained staff.
Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a healthy diet. People had access to healthcare and people's health needs were monitored and responded to.
Safe recruitment practices were followed and staff were provided with regular supervision and support.
People were supported to make informed decisions and where a person lacked capacity to make certain decisions they were protected under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported in the least restrictive way possible and staff were knowledgeable about how to support people who presented behaviours which may challenge others.
Staff had a very good understanding of how people communicated, and were kind and compassionate and treated people with respect and people's rights to privacy and dignity were promoted and upheld.
People and their families were supported to raise issues and staff knew how to deal with concerns if they were raised.
Where possible people and their families were involved in planning their care and support, staff knew people's individual preferences and tailored support to meet their needs. People were enabled to make choices about their care and support and encouraged to be as independent as possible.
People led full and varied lives and were supported to have a social life and to pursue their interests and goals.
People using the service, staff and relatives were involved in giving their views on how the service was run and there were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. People and staff were encouraged to raise any views about the service on how improvements could be made, and the registered manager promoted an open culture.