Archived: Your Choice Services - St Johns Road

Updated 3 August 2015

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.

This inspection took place on 16 June 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a supported living service and we wanted to ensure the registered manager would be there.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector. Prior to the inspection we reviewed the records we held about the service, including the details of any safeguarding events and statutory notifications sent by the provider. Statutory notifications are reports of events that the provider is required by law to inform us about.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the information provided in the PIR and used this to help us plan the inspection.

We contacted two local authority care commissioners’ representatives and received feedback from one of them about the service.

During the inspection we spoke with two staff, the registered manager and deputy manager. We spoke with one person using the service and one relative. The other people using the service were unable to tell us about their experience.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed the care plans and associated records for three people, including risk assessments and reviews and

related this to the care observed. We examined a sample of other records to do with the operation of the service including staff records, complaints, surveys and various monitoring and audit tools. We looked at the recruitment records for two recently appointed staff. Following the inspection we spoke with two further relatives to seek their views about the service.

Updated 3 August 2015

The inspection took place on 16 June 2015. The service was providing personal care support for seven people within a supported living setting, each with their own individual flat. The people supported all have needs relating to learning disability and some were also living with autism.

The service was required to have a registered manager and one was in place. 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.

We found the service was well managed and there were sufficient and well trained staff to meet people’s needs. The registered manager monitored the operation of the service effectively; sought and acted upon the views of people, relatives and external professionals.

Staff were knowledgeable about people, understood their communication and were effective in meeting their needs. Staff respected people’s dignity, privacy and rights; and advocated on their behalf with other agencies. Staff also ensured people’s healthcare needs were met.

People were safe and well cared for and experienced a fulfilling lifestyle in accordance with their wishes and preferences. They and their representatives were involved in decisions about their care. People received the support they needed with their medicines and could manage these themselves if able.

The staff team provided good and consistent care and maintained a calm, relaxed and homely atmosphere. People appeared relaxed and happy and related positively to staff.