Sanctuary Supported Living (Hazel Court)

Sanctuary Supported Living (Hazel Court) provides care and support to people living in 'supported living' accommodation, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. There were 14 flats available at the site. People's care and housing are provided under separate agreements. At the time of this inspection there were eight people who received support with personal care. Sanctuary Supported Living (Hazel Court) provides support for adults with learning disabilities. 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 and what we found

People were supported by knowledgeable, skilled staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. People had their risks assessed and staff were guided to manage these safely. People had their medicines as prescribed and there were safe systems in place to monitor these. Staff understood and followed infection control and prevention procedures. Systems were in place to investigate and monitor incidents and accidents to ensure actions were completed and improvements made.

People's needs and preferences were assessed, and support planned to meet legislation and good practice guidance. People were supported by staff who were trained, and skills maintained to ensure people’s needs were met. 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 were in place to support this practice.

People received support from kind and caring staff, who built friendships with the people they supported. People were at the heart of the support arranged and encouraged to be as independent as possible. The management team sought people’s views and acted on people’s ideas for improvements. People's privacy was respected, and their dignity maintained.

People were supported to achieve their goals and meet their needs. The service was adaptable and flexible to support people’s preferences. Staff had the information they needed to provide personalised support and understood people’s health needs. People's concerns were listened to and changes made to improve the service. When people needed support at the end of their life the service had skilled staff and systems in place to meet people’s needs.

People knew the management team and staff and were confident with them. The management team continually monitored the quality of the service and ensured improvements were sustained. The management team and staff established good relationships with other professionals and links in the community.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance consistently. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

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.

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 good (published 23 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ accommodation, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate agreements; this inspection looked at their personal care and support arrangements.

Sanctuary Supported Living (Hazel Court) provides support for adults with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting five people with personal care and support.

There was a registered manager for this service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers and registered managers 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.

People we spoke with said they had support from regular staff who helped them feel safe. Staff we spoke with recognised the different types of abuse. There were systems in place to guide staff in reporting any concerns. Staff were knowledgeable about how to manage people’s individual risks, and were able to respond to peoples’ needs. People were supported with their medicines in a way that encouraged their independence as much as possible. Staff were trained and had their competency checked by the management team. They knew about the risks associated with medicines.

Staff had up to date knowledge and training to support people. Staff always ensured people gave their consent to the support they received. The management team regularly reviewed how people were supported to make decisions. People explained they were supported to make their own decisions and be as independent as they could. They told us they were supported with meal planning and cooking. Staff told us they encouraged people to follow a healthy diet. People and their relatives told us staff would access health professionals as soon as they were needed.

People and their relatives said staff and management team were caring and kind. They said people were treated with dignity and respect, and encouraged to be as independent as possible. People said they were involved in making choices about what they were supported with and staff knew their preferences. Relatives told us they were involved as part of the team to support their family member. Staff were adaptable to changes in peoples’ needs and communicated changes to the rest of the team effectively.

People and their relatives knew how to raise complaints and the management team had arrangements in place to ensure people were listened to and appropriate action taken. Staff were involved in regular meetings to share their views and concerns about the quality of the service. People and staff said the management team were accessible and supportive to them.

The management team monitored the quality of the service in an inclusive way. They ensured there was a culture of openness with people living at the scheme and staff. The management team had systems in place to identify improvements and were taking appropriate steps to ensure these were made. The management team worked with other agencies to ensure holistic support was provided for people living at the scheme.