St. Christopher Care

Updated 10 June 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a supported living setting, 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to make sure someone would be available to support us with the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service and the information we had requested from the provider. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included people’s care records, medicine administration records, satisfaction surveys, audits and staff rotas. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures. We spoke with the registered manager and two members of staff. We were not able to seek feedback from people who used the service due to their communication needs. Following the inspection, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with three relatives to obtain their views of the service.

Updated 10 June 2022

About the service

St. Christopher Care is a supported living service which is registered to provide personal care. At the time of the inspection, they were supporting one person with a learning disability and was receiving personal care. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and 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. This enabled people who used the service to live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes.

Right Support

People received care and support that was personalised and responsive to their individual needs. Staff knew people's routines and provided the support they needed in the way they preferred. There was a positive relationship between people and the staff who supported them. People received their health support in a kind and compassionate way. Staff promoted people’s independence and confidentiality of people’s personal information was maintained. People and their relatives were involved in their care plans, including how to reduce the likelihood of the person becoming distressed. A relative told us that their family member was much happier since they moved to the service. People were supported to maintain good health and to access healthcare services when they needed.

Right Care

Systems were in place to assess people’s needs before they started to use the service. The assessment covered areas of the person’s physical, social, psychological and cultural needs. Risk assessments had been completed and staff were trained to support people safely. Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored to identify how the risks of reoccurrence could be reduced. 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. People were supported to maintain relationships with relatives.

Right culture

People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. People and their relatives were encouraged to provide feedback on the quality of care and this was acted on. Safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure staff were suitable to work with people who used the service. There were sufficient numbers of staff working for the service. The service was structured around the needs of the people and was able to adapt to their changing needs. The management team ensured a robust auditing process was in place.

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 20 August 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.