Background to this inspection
Updated
11 February 2020
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 inspection was carried out by two inspectors and three inspection managers.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in 31 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
This inspection was unannounced.
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 spoke with quality assurance officers or social work teams in three London boroughs in which the provider operates. We reviewed records of serious incidents that the provider is required to tell us about.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We visited the registered location which is the provider’s office to examine records relating to incidents and accidents and looked at records of recruitment for eight staff members. Between 10 and 19 January we visited 11 supported living services. We spoke with 13 people who used the service, 7 relatives and two visiting health and social care professionals. We spoke with the registered manager, director of care, two care service managers, two human resources officers, five house managers and 18 support workers. We looked at records of care and support for 12 people.
Updated
11 February 2020
About the service
Yarrow Housing is a supported living service. It provides care and support to adults with learning disabilities who live in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 96 people using the service.
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.
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
People felt safe receiving care from the service. Safeguarding systems were in place to investigate and monitor incidents and staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from avoidable harm.
People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff in place to meet people’s needs and wishes. There were management plans to address risks to people’s wellbeing and also to ensure positive risk taking. Risk plans emphasised the benefits to people of doing activities and promoted people’s independence. There were appropriate plans in place to support people who could be at risk of behaviour which may challenge.
Medicines were safely managed by staff who had the skills and training to do so. The service reviewed when incidents had occurred to make sure that lessons were learned.
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.
Staff understood and provided person-centred care. Staff and managers were clear about their roles and understood the values of the organisation. There were quality assurance systems and processes in place to help the service improve. The service continued to ensure that people were involved in its development and future plans.
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 outstanding (published 13 March 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the management of safeguarding adults and staffing levels. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Safe and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service remains outstanding. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Yarrow Housing Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.