HD2-1

Updated 10 January 2018

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 Care Quality Commission (CQC) was aware of incidents where the police had been notified and we explored this aspect of current care and support delivery and found that the provider had taken appropriate actions to mitigate any risks posed to people.

This inspection site visit took place on 8 November 2017 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we had about the service. This included the notifications that the provider had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required by law to send us. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). 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 also reviewed a local authority contract monitoring report to plan our inspection.

As part of the inspection, we spoke with two people. We also spoke with two relatives by telephone. We spoke with two staff, the registered manager, review care records, staff files, policies and procedures and other records relating to the management of the service. We also visited the supported living unit where the regulated activity of personal care was being delivered to speak to people and to obtain their views about the service.

We also contacted local authority commissioners and three health and social care professionals to gather their views about the service.

Updated 10 January 2018

This inspection took place on 08 November 2017 and was announced. HD2-1 provides care and support to three 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.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve mental capacity assessments, staff training and the quality assurance systems that were not always completed, recorded and maintained to drive improvement across the service to at least good. At this inspection on 08 November 2017 we found that the provider had completed the action plan and made improvements to the service.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

The provider had safeguarding adults’ policies and procedures in place and staff understood their responsibility to safeguard people they supported from abuse and also knew of the provider’s whistleblowing policy and procedure.

Risk to people had been assessed with appropriate management plans in place to mitigate risks. Where an accident or incident had taken place, the provider took action to reduce repeat occurrences. Each person had a support plan in place which was reviewed regularly to people’s changing needs.

Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff began working at the service and there were enough staff available to support people’s needs. People were given the level of support they needed to take their medicines. Staff had completed medicines training and had a medicines procedure in place for recording to ensure medicines were managed safely.

People were protected from the risk of infectious diseases because staff had completed infection control and food hygiene training and had appropriate procedures in place to reduce the spread of infections. The provider had arrangements in place to deal with foreseeable emergencies.

Support was in place for staff in the form of induction and supervision to ensure they had appropriate skills to perform their role effectively. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts for their wellbeing and to make healthy meal choices to manage their weight.

People were registered with appropriate healthcare services and were supported to make and attend appointments. The provider worked well together with other health and social care professionals to deliver a safe and effective service.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected and their independence promoted as part of their support plan. People had been consulted about their care and support needs and their views were respected. Staff understood that people’s diversity was important and respected their differences and choices.

People were encouraged to maintain relationships with their family and friends. People were provided with appropriate information about the service to ensure that they were aware of the standard of support they should receive. Where people had communication needs, information was provided in formats which met their needs. There was a complaints policy in place and people knew how to complain; however, they did not have anything to complain about at the time of our inspection.

Both the registered manager and staff demonstrated a clear understanding of the organisations values and vision. People’s views were sought through surveys, telephone calls and meetings to monitor and improve on the quality of the service.