Archived: MacIntyre Hampshire and Kent Supported Living

We visited the registered office of MacIntyre Care where we met with staff and were also introduced to some people who used the service. We visited one of the supported living settings based in Hampshire where we met with one person and two staff and looked at two people's care records. We also spoke to two people who lived in the supported living setting in Kent by telephone. The inspection assessed the quality and safety of personal care provided by the service. This included, supporting people with eating and drinking, washing and dressing and support with their medication.

People we spoke with were positive about their care. One person said, 'They [support workers] do a brilliant job, I am glad they are there'. Another told us, 'When I need help, they come'. A relative told us that they were 'Very impressed with how the staff communicated and with their knowledge of [people's] needs. They added that they were 'Confident that MacIntyre would take care of [their relative] into the future'.

We found that, where able, people were asked to give their formal, written consent to care and support before receiving a service. Where people did not have the capacity to consent, the provider acted in accordance with legal requirements.

We reviewed two people's care records and saw that people's preferences and care needs were well documented and that information about key risks were provided. Staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and what they should do to support them.

We found that staff were trained in medication management and that there were suitable arrangements in place to manage the administration of people's medication.

Staff told us they were well supported and could discuss any issues or concerns with the management team. We saw that staff had received supervision and annual appraisals which considered their training and development needs. However, we found that the frequency of supervision was not always consistent across all of the settings.

The service had adequate arrangements in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Surveys of people who use the service were undertaken each year and annual care reviews provided opportunities for people and their relatives to give feedback about their care and support.

People using the service and their representatives were involved in the development and review of their support plans. We saw that people using the service had been involved in regular meetings with their keyworker to review their support plans. We spoke with the relatives of two people who used the service following the visit. Both relatives said they had been consulted as part of the reviews of support plans and also said staff provided assistance for people to make decisions about the support they needed.

We saw that the provider had policies and procedures in place covering the safeguarding of people from abuse. All three people who used the service we spoke with said they felt safe.

People were supported by suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. Staff were thoroughly checked before they started working at the service.

People told us they were able to raise any concerns or problems with staff or the manager, who would help them to resolve the issue. We saw that people were asked for their feedback as part of the review of their support plans. Surveys of people who use the service and their representatives were completed each year.