Archived: St Stephens Road

Updated 10 July 2021

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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

St Stephens Road provides care and support to people living in 9 'supported living' flats, (located in one building), 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The new manager had applied to CQC to become registered manager for the service.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period of notice of the inspection because some of the people using the service needed support to consent to a home visit from an inspector. Inspection activity started on 17 May 2021 and ended on 28 June 2021. This extended timeframe allowed us to obtain valuable feedback from relatives and professionals. We visited the office location on 18 and 19 May 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. This included notifications about important events at the service and feedback shared directly with CQC. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the site visit

We had limited opportunity to observe staff supporting people as nobody using the service agreed to us visiting them at home. We saw staff interacting with two people in a communal area, one of whom received the regulated activity. Neither person who received the regulated activity agreed to speak with us. One person who did not receive the regulated activity told us about their experience. While we have not reported on this, this person was supported by the same staff team, which provided some assurances. We spoke with nine members of staff including the regional director, operations manager, manager and six support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed including audits and safety checks.

After the site visit

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence found. We spoke with one person's relative. We received feedback from two professionals who work with the service. We looked at staff training and supervision data, quality assurance records and policies.

Updated 10 July 2021

About the service

St Stephens Road is a supported living service providing personal care and support to adults with a variety of needs. This includes learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and mental health needs. At the time of the inspection two people using the service were receiving the regulated activity 'personal care'. A further three people were using the service but did not receive personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care (tasks related to personal hygiene and eating). Where people receive personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided.

St Stephens Road supported people living in single occupancy flats under their own tenancy agreements, with nine flats located in one building. The service had a small communal seating area, a communal garden and parking facilities. The manager’s office, staff room and staff sleep-in room were located in the same adapted building, they shared the same entrance to the building but had separate door bells.

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

Further to recent changes to the management team, improvements needed at the service were well underway. Improvement in staff culture, staff support, training and supervision was evident and feedback about the service was positive. The areas for improvement we found had previously been identified by the provider and an action plan was in place. The provider was monitoring progress on the action plan through weekly meetings with the service.

People were safe and appeared happy with the service they received. One relative said, “I have been incredibly impressed.” Risks to people had been assessed and support plans were in place to manage known risks. Staff followed people's support plans, for example, in relation to managing anxiety related behaviours. Provider polices were inclusive and person-centred and this approach was mirrored by staff working in the service. People were supported to ensure their accommodation was safe and well maintained. Plans to support people in the event of an emergency were kept updated.

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People’s views were sought in reviews of their needs and support plans. People were supported to develop life skills including cooking, shopping and managing their emotions. This enabled them to live meaningful lives in the community, including accessing mainstream services and maintaining relationships with others who were important to them

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. Restrictions were reviewed regularly to ensure they remained appropriate and legal requirements had been met. Staff sought consent for care and respected people’s choices and privacy. Where people’s capacity to make more significant decisions needed to be checked, capacity assessments had been arranged.

Referrals to external professionals had been made in response to people’s changing health needs. The manager was working with relatives to support people at appointments when needed and to ensure appropriate information was shared.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 08/01/2018, this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

St Stephens Road started providing a regulated activity (personal care) in February 2021. Further to this, some concerns about people’s safety and leadership at the service were raised to us. As the service had not been rated since registration, this inspection was carried out to gain assurances about safety and governance at St Stephens Road and to rate the service.

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.