MacIntyre Central England Support

Updated 20 June 2018

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 is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We gave the service 5 days' notice of the inspection site visits to enable the service to arrange visits from an inspector to people living in their own homes. Inspection site visit activity started on 22 February 2018 and ended on 26 February 2018. We visited the office location on 22 and 26 February 2018 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a 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 looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During the inspection we observed people in their homes, spoke to five members of staff, looked at three care files, four staff files, and spoke to 3 relatives to obtain their feedback about the service. People at home when we visited were not able to communicate with us verbally.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

The inspection was informed by feedback from questionnaires completed by a number of people using services, staff and health and social care professionals. This complimented the management of the service and the significant support people received to ensure they lived their lives as independently as possible .

Updated 20 June 2018

MacIntyre Central England Support is a supported living and domiciliary care service that supports people with learning disabilities and Autism to live as independently as possible in their own homes. The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. People had a range of disabilities and included people with learning and physical disabilities. At the time of the inspection there were seven people

being supported with personal care.

This was the first inspection at this location. We found the service to be Good overall.

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. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care

Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The Registered Manager had overall management responsibility for MacIntyre Central England Support, while each supported living service had a manager. The service was well-led by this management team who were committed to ensuring people lived fulfilling lives. The service had an ethos: 'MacIntyre DNA', which was a statement of the organisation's values and standards. This was embedded throughout the organisation and had a positive impact on people's day to day lives.

Without exception, people's relatives spoke positively about their experience of the service and the successes people had been supported to achieve.

People had access to a wide range of activities which took account of their personal preferences

and were tailored to their individual needs.

The service was very successful in identifying the causes of behaviour that challenged, and in implementing proactive and reactive strategies to reduce them. There were many examples of people's lives being transformed through skilful behavioural support. The service had implemented a range of adaptive and creative methods of communicating for people, to overcome barriers they experienced due to their learning disability and/or Autism

There was an extremely caring culture that ensured people's privacy was protected and respected. Everyone spoke of the openness of the service and without exception, staff felt valued and listened to. Staff were highly motivated and committed to ensure people's individual needs were met.

Staff were supported to ensure they were skilled and knowledgeable in order to be able to meet people's needs. The staff we spoke with were confident that the support they received enabled them to do their jobs effectively.

The registered manager and staff we spoke to understood the requirements of the MCA, and people were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service also supported this practice. Staff consistently obtained people's consent before providing support and, if people were assessed as lacking capacity to make a decision, staff ensured they acted in the person's best interests to protect their human rights. Best interest decisions were recorded.

The service ensured people were supported to understand risks and where risks were identified people were supported to manage the risks. The service promoted positive risk taking and ensured that risks were assessed and reduced whilst still promoting people’s independence.

We found that the service followed safe recruitment processes and completed additional steps to ensure that the staff employed by the service reflected its visions and values in the provision of quality care to people. Staff had completed regular training relevant to the needs of the people they supported. Staff we spoke to were knowledgeable about the people they worked with and the needs they had.

Medicines were managed safely and accurately.