Aurora Options

Updated 21 December 2018

The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team: Two inspectors visited the office on the first day of the inspection and an expert by experience spoke with people on the telephone to gather their views about the service. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. On the second day of the inspection, one inspector visited people in their home at a supported living scheme.

Service and service type: Aurora Options provides care and support to people living in 14 separate ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible.

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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the manager would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 25 October 2018 and ended on 30 October 2018. We visited the office location on 25 October 2018 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We visited a supported living scheme on 30 October 2018 to visit people, speak with staff, review records and review medicines administration processes.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse and accident and incidents. We sought feedback from the local authorities who commission services from the provider and professionals who work with the service. The provider completed a provider information return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with nine people and eight relatives to ask about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, a supported living manager, a team leader and support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 11 care plans and risk assessments and medicines records and 10 staff files including staff recruitment, training and supervision records. We also looked at records used in managing the service including policies and procedures, audits and quality assurance reports, surveys and minutes of meetings.

Updated 21 December 2018

About the service: Aurora Options is a supported living service which provides care for people with learning disabilities living in the boroughs of Lewisham, Southwark and Bexley. This service provides care and support to people so they can live in their own homes as independently as possible. People's care and housing is provided under separate agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living and so this inspection looked at people's personal care and support. On the day of the inspection 57 people were using the service.

What life is like for people using this service:

• At this inspection we found that the service was outstanding in empowering people to have as much control over their lives as possible and to achieve their maximum potential.

• People’ care was consistently personalised to their need. During our inspection, we found multiple examples to demonstrate the staff and management team were passionate about providing an innovative and excellent service.

• Relatives felt the care was highly personalised and that the staff team worked well to deliver an excellent level of care. People were set realistic goals to improve their independence and they were supported by staff to achieve key outcomes.

• People were educated on making healthy lifestyle choices for themselves and supported to maintain good health. Staff supported people to access healthcare services and liaised with health professionals promptly when required.

• 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 service supported this practice.

• People were empowered to make day-to-day decisions for themselves and to make their own choices about how they would like to live their lives including where they lived and people they lived with.

• The service had a strong sense of promoting social inclusion and people were supported to be active members of their communities. Staff understood the Equality Act and empowered people to explore their diversities whilst supporting them to maintain their own safety.

• The service had established good links in the local community and had worked in partnership with key organisations including local authorities and other agencies that provided social care services to improve people's opportunities and experiences.

• The service had an open approach to feedback and encouraged people and staff to be actively involved in service development. Where people provided feedback about the service these were acted upon to improve the service delivery and enhance people’s experiences. The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and lessons learnt from each audits or accident and incidents were used to continuously develop the service.

• There was a registered manager in post who understood their role and responsibilities and at the same time empowered and developed staff. Leaders and managers were accountable for their staff and recognised the importance of their role. Staff understood their individual roles, responsivities and the contributions they made to the service.

More information is in detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Report published 10 May 2016)

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the last inspection rating. At this inspection we found the provider had improved the service to achieve an outstanding rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit in line with our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.