QH Care Services Limited

Updated 19 May 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in two ‘supported living’ settings so 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. A deputy manager was covering the role with support from the provider’s operational managers.

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.

Inspection activity started on 30 March 2022 and ended on 1 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met with one person, spoke with two staff and an operational manager. We reviewed three people’s care records, three staff files, quality assurance audits, team meeting minutes and checks of health and fire safety. We also reviewed medicines administration records and medicines audits.

After the inspection

After the inspection we reviewed further information sent to us by the provider regarding quality assurance at the service.

Updated 19 May 2022

About the service

Walsingham Support - Supported Living and Community and Home Support Service

is a supported living service providing the regulated activity personal care to people with a learning disability. Support is provided to people in two separate accommodations. At the time of our inspection the provider was supporting five people.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

Based on our review of the Safe, Effective and Well-led key questions the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

People received their care and support at times they chose. Support was provided to people in individual self-contained apartments which were personalised. People’s risks were assessed and mitigated and staff knew how to protect them from abuse. The provider ensured that staff were trained to meet people’s changing needs effectively. Where people did not use verbal communication, their communication needs were assessed and staff supported them to make choices.

Right care

Staff provided people with person-centred support based on their assessed needs and expressed preferences. People’s privacy was protected. Staff administered medicines safely and ensured the environment was clean. People ate well and chose how they received their personal care. Health services were accessed regularly, and healthcare professionals were involved in supporting people’s wellbeing.

Right culture

The provider ensured the service was inclusive and empowering for people. Staff felt motivated to support people’s individual needs in creative ways. 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.

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 at the previous premises was Good (published 10 June 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively .

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Walsingham Support - Supported Living and Community and Home Support Service on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.