Archived: St John of God Care Services Supported Living

Updated 4 December 2019

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 first day of the inspection was undertaken by an inspector and an assistant inspector. One inspector visited on the second day.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in six ‘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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered manager and provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The previous registered manager had been away from work for some time prior to the inspection and de-registered shortly before. We were assisted throughout the inspection by an experienced deputy manager and an operations manager. The deputy manager and provider team had been involved in the day to day of the oversight of the service in the absence of a registered manager.

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. We also requested a home visit, which was arranged.

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.

We reviewed information we had received about the service from the provider since the last inspection, such as notifications which the service is legally required to send us. We received feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eleven members of staff including the operations manager, deputy operations manager, deputy manager, a senior support worker and seven support workers. We reviewed full care plans for three people, and elements of documentation for a further two. We looked at medicine administration records for three people.

We viewed a selection of records relating to the recruitment and support of the staff team and the management and running of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 4 December 2019

About the service

St John of God Care Services Supported Living provides care and support to people living in supported living settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. The service supports people living within Richmond, Catterick Village and Leyburn and specialises in supporting people with a learning disability and / or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection 25 people received support.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives expressed their confidence that people were safe and received care that met their needs. Risks were effectively managed by a staff team that were familiar with people’s needs. People received their medication as required. Appropriate actions were taken when there were accidents or incidents. Staffing levels met people’s needs and people received support from a consistent team of staff.

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. People were asked for their consent to their care and staff supported them to make their own decisions.

There were good relationships with health and social care professionals to ensure people’s changing needs continued to be met. People were supported with their dietary needs and preferences. Staff felt well supported in their roles through a series of supervisions and appraisals. The provider had recently updated their training programme to ensure it encompassed the different types of support people needed.

Staff treated people with kindness and upheld their dignity and respect in how they supported them. People were comfortable with staff and relatives provided positive feedback about how they had been supported as families.

People had detailed, person-centred care plans which guided staff as to the support they required. People had full and active lives and were encouraged to partake in activities of their choosing and to be a part of their community. Complaints were addressed appropriately, and people and their representatives were confident in raising any issues. Staff were familiar with people’s individual communication needs.

The person registered to manage the service had left shortly prior to the inspection. In the absence of a registered manager, the service was being managed by the deputy manager with high levels of oversight from the provider team. People and staff provided positive feedback about the management of the service and talked positively about the improvements being made. The provider’s vision was shared with the staff team who were engaged with this. Staff and people’s views were listened to and acted upon. A series of checks were completed to monitor the quality and safety of the service and to drive improvements.

We made a recommendation about the systems of governance to ensure identified actions were followed up in a timely manner.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 14 November 2018).

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.