Archived: Bradford Supported Living

Updated 12 August 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on the 15 & 28 June and 4 July 2016 and the visit was announced. The registered provider was given 24 hours' notice because the location provides personal care and support and we needed to be sure that someone would be at the service that could assist us with the inspection. We last inspected Bradford Supported Living April 2015 and rated the service as ‘requires improvement’ and issued three warning notices.

The inspection team consisted of one Adult Social Care inspector.

Before the inspection took place, we looked at the information the Care Quality Commission (CQC) held about the service. We contacted the adult protection unit for information they had on the service. On this occasion, we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Some people were unable to tell us about their experience of care at the service. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We looked at how people were supported throughout the day with their daily routines and activities. We observed staff carrying out their duties. These included supporting people with their preferred activities. We assessed if people’s care needs were being met by reviewing their care records.

We looked at three care records for people that used the service and three staff files, quality monitoring arrangements and other staff support documents including supervision records, team meeting minutes and individual training records. We spoke with four people that used the service, the registered manager, the regional manager, the deputy manager and three support workers.

Updated 12 August 2016

On the 15 & 28 June and 4 July 2016 we inspected Bradford Supported Living Services. This was an announced inspection.

As a result of the April 2015 inspection the Commission used its enforcement powers to issue three warning notices. This inspection was a comprehensive inspection where we checked whether Bradford Supported Living Services had made necessary improvements. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and management were not always office based. We found improvements had been made and the service was no longer in breach of regulation.

Bradford Supported Living provides personal care and support to adults with learning disabilities who live in their own homes. The service operates across five private houses in the Bradford area where people are encouraged to live as independently as possible. At the time of our inspection the service was providing 24 hour supported living services to 15 people. A supported living service is one where people live in their own home and receive care and support to enable them to live independently without total reliance on parents or guardians. People have tenancy agreements with a landlord and receive their care and support from the domiciliary care agency. As the housing and care arrangements are separate, people can choose to change their care provider and remain living in the same house.

The service had a registered manager in place 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 and associated Regulations about

how the service is run.

The safety of people who used the service was taken seriously and the management team and staff at Bradford Supported Living were aware of their responsibility to protect people's health and wellbeing.

There were processes in place to ensure people's safety, including risk assessments. These identified how the risks to people were minimised but also ensured people's rights to choice and freedom.

Where people required assistance to take their medicines there were arrangements in place to provide this support safely.

People told us they were supported by a consistent team of support workers who they had developed good relationships with. People valued the relationship they had with the support workers.

There were systems in place to ensure people's rights to respect, privacy and dignity were promoted and respected. There were sufficient numbers of support workers to provide a flexible service and staff were trained and supported to meet people's individual needs.

Where people required assistance with their dietary needs this was planned to ensure it was appropriate and safe. Where support workers had identified concerns around people's wellbeing, appropriate action was taken to contact other relevant health and social care professionals.

People and their representatives (where appropriate) were involved in making decisions about their care and support. People's care records had been tailored to the individual and contained information about how they communicated and their ability to make decisions.

The service did not always fully assume people’s capacity in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The service was committed to person centred care and ensured people using the service were at the centre of everything they did. People's potential was recognised and they were supported to develop their skills and knowledge through learning.

The provider was seen to constantly strive to ensure people who used the service were able to achieve their full potential and people's choices were acted upon by staff and management who supported them to live a fulfilled life and cared for them in a way they preferred. There was evidence of positive outcomes for people, and people had pursued new opportunities, progressed over time, gained new skills and increased their independence.

There was a strong emphasis on person centred care and we found all staff and management were kind, caring and very positive in their attitude to the organisation and their role. They said they were committed to the support and care of the people who used the service.

The service had developed and sustained effective links with professionals and this helped them foster a multidisciplinary approach to supporting people. We saw written evidence from family members, health care professionals and the care files we reviewed that showed people's needs were continually reviewed.

Care plans ensured staff had all the guidance and information they needed to enable them to provide individualised care and support. People were consulted and involved in assessments and reviews.

People who used and worked for the service felt able to express their views and opinions to influence service delivery. The management team provided a support network for staff and acted on the views of people. People and staff told us they thought the service was well managed.

Systems to continually monitor the quality of the service were effective. The registered provider gathered information about the quality of their service from a variety of sources including people who used the service, their family and professionals.