Olive Stone Support

Olive Stone Support provides personal care and support to people living in 2 ‘supported living' settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. The service provides support to adults and older people with a physical disability and people with a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service.

People’s experience of the 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 assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

Medicines were given safely but some systems needed review to ensure best practice was consistently followed. We have made a recommendation about medicines. 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. The service had plans and guidance to support people with identified risks. For one person a risk assessment needed further review to ensure they were always supported in the least restrictive way. The provider acted to address this during the inspection. Care was person centred and promoted choice and independence. People were supported to achieve positive outcomes. People were supported by staff who received an induction and ongoing training. Staff knew people well and had built positive relationships with them.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Feedback from people and their relatives was all positive. Staff knew people well, understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff promoted and respected people's right to privacy, dignity, and respect. Staff knew how to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse. People were fully supported to live a life of their choosing and to increase their independence.

Right Culture:

People and relative told us there was a positive culture. The provider and acting manager listened to concerns and promoted a positive culture that was person-centred, open, and inclusive. Staff were supported and given opportunities to feedback about the service. Staff told us it was a good place to work, and they supported each other. Quality assurance processes enabled continuous improvement. There was a learning culture and learning was shared. There was good communication with partner agencies to support people’s health and wellbeing. Professionals gave positive feedback about the service and told us it went above and beyond for people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 19 June 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was based on the length of time since we last inspected. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Olive Stone Support on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about medicines management.

Follow Up

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

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, 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. At the time of the inspection there were seven people using the service.

The service was not required to have a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like 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.

Olive Stone Support had not previously been inspected by CQC under its current registration.

Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and investigated. Risk assessments were in place for people who used the service and described potential risks and the safeguards in place to mitigate these risks. The provider and staff understood their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and had been appropriately trained in the protection of vulnerable adults.

Appropriate health and safety checks had been carried out and people lived in a safe environment.

Medicines were stored safely and securely, and procedures were in place to ensure people received medicines as prescribed.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the needs of people who used the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant vetting checks when they employed staff. Staff were supported in their role via appropriate training and regular supervisions.

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 supported this practice.

People were protected from the risk of poor nutrition and staff were aware of people’s nutritional needs. Care records contained evidence of people being supported during visits to and from external health care specialists.

People who used the service and family members were complimentary about the standard of care provided by Olive Stone Support. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible.

Care records showed that people’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and support plans were written in a person-centred way. Person-centred is about ensuring the person is at the centre of any care or support plans and their individual wishes, needs and choices are taken into account.

Activities were arranged for people who used the service based on their likes and interests, and to help meet their social needs. The service had good links with the local community.

People who used the service and family members were aware of how to make a complaint. The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place. People who used the service, family members, visiting professionals and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service.