Real Life Options - West Midlands Supported Living and Outreach Services

Updated 2 November 2019

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

This inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It also provides care and support to people living in two 'supported living' settings who require 24hour support, 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 who was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who, as well as the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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 20 September 2019 and ended on 08 October 2019. We visited the office location on 20 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return however we inspected the service before this was returned. 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 to the local authority who worked with the service. They did not share any concerns with us about the care provided. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the manager and we reviewed the care records for the person receiving support from the service. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Following the inspection

We spoke with one member of staff to gain their views about the service. We asked the manager to send us additional evidence to support our judgement of the service.

Updated 2 November 2019

About the service

Real Life Options - West Midlands Supported Living and Outreach Services provides care and support for people with learning disabilities or an autism spectrum disorder.

Real Life Options – West Midlands Supported Living and Outreach Services was supporting 10 people at the time of our inspection but only one person 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.

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

There were enough staff to ensure people were safe. Where risks associated with people's health and wellbeing had been identified, plans were in place to manage those risks while ensuring people could remain independent. Staff had received training to safeguard people from abuse and knew how to report concerns.

People's care was person centred and was responsive to their individual needs. Staff had received training to understand how to support them well. Care records provided information in relation to people's backgrounds, interests and care needs.

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; systems supported this practice. The registered manager ensured care was based upon good practice guidance to help ensure people received an effective service. Promoting independence was encouraged and people were offered choices.

The manager and staff team worked closely with external healthcare professionals to ensure people's health and wellbeing was maintained.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 05 October 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about this service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.