Archived: One Fylde (Church Road)

Updated 9 March 2018

We carried out this comprehensive inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Fylde Community Link Supported Living and Domiciliary Service provides support to adults with a learning disability across the Fylde, Blackpool, and Wyre areas of Lancashire. People's support is based on their individual needs and can range from 24 hour care within a supported living environment to a set number of visits each week from the domiciliary service.

This service provides personal care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so they can live in their own home 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 also provides domiciliary care to adults with a learning disability. They provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in their local community.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. The aim of the guidance is to assist services in enabling people with learning disabilities and autism using the service to live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

We contacted the commissioning department at the local authorities. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

The inspection took place on 05 and 06 December 2017 and was unannounced on the first day. We also visited the provider’s offices on 12 December to feed back our findings to the Chief Executive Officer who was absent during our inspection.

We visited the office location on 05 and 06 December to speak with the registered managers and office staff. We also reviewed care records, policies and procedures, as well as other documentation related to the management of the service. We telephoned and spoke with people who received support and their relatives on 06 and 07 December 2017. We visited two supported living houses on 06 December 2017 and met some people who lived there. We visited two people who received a domiciliary service on 06 January 2018.

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and two experts-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The experts-by-experience had a background supporting older people with learning disabilities.

During the visit we spoke with a range of people about the service. They included 19 people who received a service, 9 relatives and a healthcare professional. We also spoke with the three registered managers, the chief executive, three members of the administration team, a project leader and four care staff. We also observed care practices and how staff interacted with people in their care. This helped us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at care records of five people and five medicines records. We looked at staff supervision and recruitment records of four staff. We looked at what quality audit tools and data management systems the registered provider had.

We reviewed past and present staff rotas. For people who

Updated 9 March 2018

This inspection visit took place on 05 and 06 December 2017 unannounced. We also visited the provider’s offices again on 12 December to feedback our findings.

Fylde Community Link Supported Living and Domiciliary Service provides support to adults with a learning disability across the Fylde, Blackpool, and Wyre areas of Lancashire. People's support is based on their individual needs and can range from 24 hour care within a supported living environment to a set number of visits each week from the domiciliary service.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. The aim of the guidance is to help services ensure people with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

This service provides personal care and support to 81 people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so they can live in their own home 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.

They also provide domiciliary care to 34 adults with a learning disability. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

There were three registered managers in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they 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.

At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement. At this inspection we found the service had improved and was rated Good.

Although a number of people had limited verbal communication and were unable to converse with us, we were able to speak with 19 people who received support. They gave us positive feedback about the service they received and told us they were cared for by staff who met their needs and treated them well.

Relatives told us staff were caring, well-trained and attentive to the needs of their loved ones. They told us they were happy with the care provided and gave positive feedback about how the service was provided.

People we spoke with and staff told us there were always enough staff to provide the support people required. Staff we spoke with knew people they supported very well. They were able to share important information about people’s care needs and how they preferred to be supported.

The service had systems to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. The service carefully monitored and analysed such events to learn from them and improve the service. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report unsafe care or abusive practices. The registered provider had reported incidents to the commission when required.

Risk assessments were completed to assess the potential risk of harm to people while receiving care and support. Staff drew up plans of support to lessen these risks. Risk assessments and associated plans of support were kept under regular review.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and were well-supported. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

The provider had implemented a new risk assessment for medicines administration, which had helped to improve the level of independence people had with their medicines. Systems were in place which helped to ensure medicines were managed properly and safely, in line with best practice guidance.

People were treated as unique individuals by staff who supported them. Through conversations with people who used the service and staff, we found the service focussed on delivering personalised support which empowered people to make their own choices and retain their independence.

People had been supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Policies the service had took into account people’s human rights and protected characteristics. This helped to prevent any discrimination.

People told us staff knew them well, including their support needs and preferences. We saw written plans of care and support were detailed and informative. Clear records were kept of the care and support each person received.

People were supported to maintain their health and to eat a balanced diet. Staff had information about people’s dietary needs and these were being met. People had access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs had been met.

People we spoke with and their relatives told us they were supported to participate in a variety of activities. The service had also supported people to gain employment and set up a gardening group, which was run by people who used the service, with staff support.

People described staff as caring. Relatives we spoke with gave us consistently positive feedback about the approach of staff. Staff had received training around dignity and respect and put this into practice when delivering care and support.

The service had a complaints procedure. This was available in an easier to read format and was given to people who used the service. People we spoke with and their relatives told us they had no cause for complaint but knew they would be listened to if they wanted to raise concerns.

Staff at the service carried out regular checks and audits on various aspects of the service delivered. People and their relatives were invited and encouraged to give feedback about their experiences of the service they had received. Regular management meetings were held where concerns or areas for improvements were discussed. This showed the provider had systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.