Updated 14 December 2019
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in 16 ‘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.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission at the time of the inspection. This means that the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The provider had taken reasonable steps to recruit a new manager who was due to start in the near future and would begin the registration process at that stage.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a supported living service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection and people would be home.
Inspection activity started on 30 September 2019 and ended on 8 October 2019. We visited people in their homes on 30 September 2019 and spoke with people who used the service and their relatives via telephone on 4 October 2019. We visited the office location on 1 and 8 October 2019 and spoke with staff throughout the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with nine staff members including the regional director of excellence team, the interim manager, three service managers and four support workers.
We reviewed a range of records including four people’s care records and medical records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.