Focus Care Supported Living Ltd

Updated 10 March 2020

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

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own supported living settings, 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 registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

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 31 January 2020 and ended on 6 February 2020. We visited the office location on 3 and 6 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authorities and professionals who work with the service. 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 inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with ten members of staff including the managing director/nominated individual. We also spoke with the registered manager, the regional operations director, the quality and compliance manager, two area managers, an expert by experience, two support workers and a business administrator.

We also spoke with, and had email communication with, seven health and social care professionals who worked with the service. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We sought reclarification from the registered manager about the geographical areas they delivered a service into.

Updated 10 March 2020

About the service

Focus Care Agency Limited provides personal care to people in their own homes and supported living settings. They care for people with learning disabilities and provide tailored care packages which include 24-hour care. They provide care to people and children in Peterborough, Suffolk, Essex and East Sussex with a head office based in Peterborough Cambridgeshire. On the day of our inspection there were 24 people receiving personal care from the service.

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. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. 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. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

Staff at the service were not risk adverse, when supporting a person’s rights. 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. Where people had been assessed as lacking mental capacity legal restrictions had been applied for, agreed and put in place as guidance for staff.

Staff were knowledgeable and very responsive to people’s individual needs and preferences, often finding effective, creative, and innovative ways to help people live as full a life as possible. Staff promoted and enabled people to exercise their human rights, their ambitions and personal goals. Staff worked hard alongside people and their relatives to help people to follow their interests both within their own homes and the wider community.

Staff supported people to explore and achieve their personal goals and aspirations. Engagement in daily tasks such as shopping, taking part in activities and linking with support networks were an important part of people’s lives. For some people, at previous care placements this had not always been a possibility for them. People took part in a wide range of pastimes. Staff were willing to go the extra mile and try different ideas to help people live rewarding lives and develop the life skills they needed and wanted. This enabled people to become as independent as possible.

The registered manager and their staff team linked up, communicated and worked with other organisations and health professionals to ensure people’s well-being. This included working with different organisations involved in best practice guidance to try to improve the lives of people living with autism and or a learning disability.

The culture of staff was inclusivity and people were involved in different aspects of the service. People were given easy read versions of legislation and best practice guidance to aid their understanding of why it was important staff followed these. Inclusivity for people also included being involved and helping making decisions at potential new staff interviews. Taking part and completing training alongside staff, having a supervision and taking part in the quality auditing of the service. People were encouraged to apply for paid jobs with the organisation and a person had been successful in doing this.

Professionals who worked with staff had extremely positive things to say about how staff had transformed people’s lives for the better. The provider and staff team worked well with other agencies and organisations to provide very effective and responsive joined-up care for people.

Staff monitored and managed people’s individual and known risks. Staff understood their duty to keep people safe wherever possible from poor care and avoidable harm. Staff were trained in infection control and helped people keep their homes clean. People were supported safely with their medicines. Competency checks reviewed staff’s ability to manage this support task safely.

Checks were completed on potential new staff to help make sure they were suitable to work with the people they supported. Staff received an induction, mandatory training, competency checks and supervisions to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff were encouraged to develop their skills through completing further qualifications.

Staff were empowered by the provider to give people a high-quality service. There was a very robust and embedded governance system in place to check and monitor the quality of care being provided. The nominated individual was very involved in the day to day running of the service. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. People and their relatives knew the nominated individual and management team very well.

Staff treated the people they supported kindly and with compassion. People and their relatives had extremely positive opinions of the staff who cared for them, their family members. Staff promoted and maintained people’s privacy and dignity when supporting them.

Staff supported people to follow a balanced diet and people, where possible, were involved in helping to make decisions about their care. People’s preferences on how staff delivered their care was recorded in care records.

Complaints were investigated and resolved where practicable. People knew how to raise any concerns. The registered manager gave people, their relatives and staff, opportunities to give their view of the service and from this feedback action was taken to make any improvements.

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 (report published 7 August 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.