Evolving Living Ltd

Updated 3 November 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 was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This is a 24-hour supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own studio flat within a supported living service.

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 the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 18 October 2023 and ended on 20 October 2023. We visited the location’s office on 20 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and the provider who is also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed 1 person’s care plan, risk assessments and medication administration records. We reviewed 3 staff files to review the recruitment methods in place. We looked at a range of policies, audits and systems in place that monitored the safety and quality of the service. We spoke with 3 care staff via telephone calls to gain their feedback on working at the service.

Updated 3 November 2023

Evolving Living Limited is a 24-hour supported living service which is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own studio flat. There are five studio flats in the service operated by the provider, with a further two studio flats external to the main building where the provider's office is located. The service is registered to provide support to younger adults aged between 18 and 65 years who have a diagnosis of mental health support needs.

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.

At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 7 people, with 1 person receiving the regulated activity of personal care. As there was only 1 person receiving care at the time of the inspection and the fact we want to protect the person’s right to a private life, the report will provide an overview rather than specific examples.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Quality checks were in place, but some were not always effective in identifying where improvements were needed.

Important information about a specific incident had not been shared with us as legally required.

Some pre-employment checks had been completed but references from staff’s previous employment were not available for us to review or to the registered manager or provider who had not have oversight of them.

Risks of harm or injury were assessed, and care plans gave information to staff on how to reduce risks. Care plans were reviewed regularly and updated when people’s needs changed. People were protected from the risks of abuse.

Staff completed an induction and training. Their skills and knowledge were assessed, and they felt they had the skills they needed. There were enough staff available to provide the agreed support to people.

Staff were kind and caring toward people and the service had a caring culture which was demonstrated by staff.

Staff felt supported in their job roles and able to raise any concerns with the registered manager.

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 registered manager had completed mental capacity assessments for people and staff worked within the remit of the Mental Capacity Act. when needed.

Systems were in place to gather people’s feedback on the service, and this was analysed by the registered manager and provider.

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 registered with us on 31.03.2023 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the safe recruitment of staff and how the provider monitors the service provided.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.