Swanton Care Supported Living Office

Updated 2 November 2022

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 and 1 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 12 people in 8 ‘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

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started remotely off site on 28 September 2022 and ended on 20 October 2022. We visited the location’s office on 4 October 2022.

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 used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people and 8 relatives about their experience of the care provided. Not everyone who used the service communicated verbally or wished to speak on the telephone, therefore they gave us permission, or a best interest decision was made on their behalf to consent for us to speak with their relative. We spoke with 9 members of staff including the registered manager, 2 service managers, assistant manager, team leader and 4 support workers. We received feedback from 2 health and social care professionals.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and 2 medicine records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training information, policies and procedures and quality assurance documents were reviewed.

Updated 2 November 2022

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.

About the service

Swanton Care Supported Living Office is a supported living service providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to younger adults with a learning disability, mental health need or autism spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 12 people using the service.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

Systems were in place to ensure the right culture was being promoted that people’s human rights were respected and their opinions were listened to and valued.

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.

There were sufficient staff to support people safely. Where there were staff vacancies the provider had a contingency plan in place to ensure people were safely and effectively supported, with minimum disruption to their lives.

People were supported to make choices and achieve their aspirations. One person told us, “Staff spend a lot of time with me and do things I like to do, cinema and that. I got a new puppy, a 3-month-old Labrador. Swanton staff support really well with the puppy as I’ve never had a puppy before, they knew it would help me, so they encouraged it.”

Staff followed the provider’s ethos to provide person-centred care that enabled individuals to develop skills and behaviours to live more independent lives. A relative commented, “Staff are very good with [Name], try different things and set goals with them, [Name]’s communication is improving, more sounds coming out, staff are inventive.”

People were provided with a variety of opportunities to be part of the community. A relative commented, “Staff look at activities [Name] would benefit from, suggest to [Name] different things, gradually they make their own mind up about it. They try various activities I hadn’t thought of.”

Records gave guidance to staff, so people received care that was completely centred and tailored to each individual.

Right Care

People were supported over a 24-hour period in their own homes. People lived individually or in small groups of no more than 2 people in houses in the community.

Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. A person commented, “Staff base the support around me, and don’t push me too hard. They don’t bring males in to support me, even if short staffed, always someone from my team.”

People and most relatives were complimentary about the care provided by staff. They said staff were kind, caring and supportive of people and their families. A relative told us, “[Name] gets all their needs seen to, well cared for, staff understand [Name], they like the staff, which is really good, gets to do things and go places. I really am happy with the care” and “In so many ways [Name] has a life they wouldn’t have with me.”

Staff had received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. Where appropriate, actions were taken to keep people safe.

Staff followed effective processes to assess and provide the support people needed to take their medicines safely.

Right Culture

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. A relative commented, “Staff do treat [Name] as an adult. I’m always amazed, how good staff are, I need to recognise what potential [Name] has and what they can do.”

Staff spoke positively about working at the service and the people they cared for. Staff said the management team was very approachable and they were supported in their role.

Relatives were involved in decision making about their relative’s care but some commented there could be improvements to communication from some households to keep them up-to-date about any changes in their relative’s needs.

A governance system was in place to monitor the quality of the service through audits and feedback received from people, their relatives, staff and external agencies. A person told us, “Recently I had to do a video to say what I liked and didn’t like about the service and what they do well. They asked me questions I loved doing it.”

Processes were in place to manage and respond to complaints and concerns. Relatives said any concerns were addressed.

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 (15 August 2018)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing and people’s care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Swanton Care Supported Living Office on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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