27 February 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Waterlees supported living service provides personal care to people living in their own flats in a sheltered housing complex. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people living with a learning disability and/or autistic spectrum disorder who were using the service. 7 people were receiving personal care.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
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 guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Right Support
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. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do through robust positive risk taking, so people led fulfilling and meaningful lives. People and their relatives confirmed this.
People were supported to maintain and pursue their interests and to achieve their aspirations and goals. People and relatives were able to describe the outcomes they achieved as a result of their care and support. Outcomes included development of independence and being actively involved in their local community. People received their medicines as prescribed. We identified some minor documentation issues around recording and monitoring of incidents of distress, which was rectified by the registered manager immediately.
Right Care
People received care and support from staff who knew them well and understood their individual needs and considered their preferences. Staff understood people’s individual ways of communicating and spoke about them with respect. Staff could recognise and report abuse and there were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff supported people to stay safe and maintain their well-being.
Right Culture
The culture of the service was open and empowered individuals to express their views and be in control of their lives with the support of staff. People received support based on inclusion, respect and transparency. People and their relatives told us they felt confident to approach the management team and that their suggestions would be listened and responded to. A range of quality checks with oversight at provider level helped to maintain and improve the service and the lives of people supported.
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 (published 8 June 2019).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Waterlees Supported Living Service on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.