Archived: Supporting You in London and Thames Valley

Updated 21 January 2015

We visited Supporting You in London and Thames Valley on 12, 13 and 15 August 2014 and spent time observing the way staff engaged with people. In addition to this we visited four supported living schemes with people’s permission. We also looked at records, which included 14 people’s care records and those relating to the management of the service. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before our inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications which had been received from the service, safeguarding referrals made by the provider and the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We spoke with a commissioner of the service and the local safeguarding team. We also reviewed information from questionnaires we asked people using the service to complete. We sent 27 questionnaires and four completed questionnaires were returned.

We met with 10 people who lived at four supported living schemes where the service provided personal care to people. We spoke with five relatives, the interim service manager, regional manager, project coordinator and six care workers.

This report was written during the testing phase of our new approach to regulating adult social care services. After this testing phase, inspection of consent to care and treatment, restraint, and practice under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was moved from the key question ‘Is the service safe?’ to ‘Is the service effective?

The ratings for this location were awarded in October 2014. They can be directly compared with any other service we have rated since then, including in relation to consent, restraint, and the MCA under the ‘Effective’ section. Our written findings in relation to these topics, however, can be read in the ‘Is the service safe’ sections of this report.

Updated 21 January 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.

This was an announced inspection. We gave the provider two days’ notice of our inspection. The last CQC inspection was carried out in April 2013. At that time, we found that all regulations we reviewed were met.

The service provides care and support to people living in their own flats or shared accommodation within supported living schemes. An outreach service is also provided to people living in their own homes. It specialises in providing care to people who have mental health needs and those with a learning disability. There were 29 people using the service at the time of our inspection. There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. However, the registered manager was on long term leave and an interim service manager was in post.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe, and staff supported them to keep safe in their homes and out in the community. Suitable arrangements were in place to ensure people who used the service were safeguarded against the risk of abuse.

Processes were in place to identify any risks to people who used the service and management plans were put in place to keep people safe and free from harm, whilst enabling them to have as much independence as possible.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and about issues in relation to people being deprived of their liberty. They were aware how to ensure the rights of people who lacked the mental capacity to make decisions were recognised and respected.

Staffing levels were determined by the individual support that people required. These were reviewed regularly to ensure people had the right support to meet their goals and aspirations. There was a programme of training, supervision and appraisal to support staff to meet people’s needs.

Recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work at the service.

People’s health and social care needs were assessed to ensure that the service was suitable for them and could meet their needs. They were involved in the assessment process and development of their care plan. These were centred on the individual and provided staff with guidance on how the person wanted to be supported.

People told us they were confident to raise any concerns they had with the staff and managers. Complaints were dealt with in line with the complaints procedure.

People told us the staff treated them with kindness, dignity and respect. Throughout our inspection we saw that staff addressed people with respect and sought their permission before providing any support. People were supported to access activities, education, employment and facilities in the local community, so that they developed their skills and independence.

Staff said they enjoyed their work and had good management support. All the managers we spoke with had a good understanding of the needs of people they supported. They confirmed that they wanted to empower people to have more control over the way their support was provided, in choosing their goals and to become more independent.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the care and welfare of people and improve the quality of the service provided. Staff used national guidance to implement improvements in the way people were supported to live their lives.