West Midlands and Wiltshire PBS Service

Updated 17 January 2023

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 team comprised of 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 4 ‘supported living’ settings, 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this to enable our visit to people’s homes.

Inspection activity started on 1 December 2022 and ended on 7 December 2022. We met with the registered manager on 1 December 2022.

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 since their registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 relatives of people who used the service, 6 care staff and the registered manager. Where people were unable to communicate verbally, we spent time observing staff interactions with people. We reviewed a range of records including 3 people's care plans, risk assessments and medicines. We also reviewed recruitment processes, supervision and training information, auditing processes and other documentary evidence that supported the management of the service.

Updated 17 January 2023

About the service

West Midlands and Wiltshire PBS Service is a supported living service for autistic people and people with learning disabilities. People had their own individual houses/bungalows with staff on site, providing 24 hour care and support. At the time of the inspection, the service had 4 properties and there were 5 people using the service. All the properties were in keeping with neighbouring properties with access to local amenities and transport.

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's support focused on them having opportunities to gain new skills and become more independent. People were encouraged to take part in activities they wanted to. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. People led meaningful lives which promoted their choice, control and independence. Support was person-centred, appropriate and inclusive. People were supported safely with their medicines. People’s nutritional needs were being met. There were comprehensive systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of care being provided.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff respected and protected people's privacy and dignity and understood and responded to people’s individual needs. The service had processes in place to report abuse and keep people safe. Staff were aware of their legal responsibilities in reporting abuse. Identified risks to people were assessed and reviewed regularly to minimise the risk of potential harm. Staff had received appropriate training to support them effectively in their role. The service had enough, safely recruited, staff to meet people's needs. People were encouraged to be involved in developing their support and care plans; that were reviewed regularly and reflected peoples’ choices and promoted their wellbeing.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care and were supported by staff who understood their strengths. Staff knew people well and were responsive to their needs. People and their families were supported and encouraged to work with staff to develop the service, ensuring it remained focused on the person’s needs. Staff spoke passionately about the people they supported. The service’s ethos was ‘Transforming Care’ with the aim to improve the lives of people living with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

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.

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 first registered with us on 25 August 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to a closed culture. A closed culture is a poor culture in a health or care service that increases the risk of harm to people. As this was also the service’s first inspection since it’s registration, we reviewed all the key questions, is the service Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

Follow up

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