Background to this inspection
Updated
21 June 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type:
This service provides care and support to thirteen people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. Ten people needed personal care support which is the regulated activity looked at during this inspection. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
The service currently had a manager registered with CQC. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
The inspection took place on 18 March 2019 and 21 May 2019. We gave the provider two days’ notice of the inspection. This was so they could check with people if they were happy for us to visit them in their own homes.
What we did:
Before the inspection we checked the information that we held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We made three attempts to obtain feedback from the Local Authority, however at the time of writing this report we had not been contacted.
During the inspection
We visited and spoke with two people living in their own home. We looked at two people’s care records and checked records relating to people's medicines. We checked audits and quality assurance reports, incident and accident records, as well as recruitment, supervision and training information. We observed care people received throughout the visit, as well as interactions. 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 spoke with a relative of one person.
We spoke with four members of staff. These included support workers, senior staff and the manager.
Updated
21 June 2019
Halton Supported Living Service provides ‘supported living’ services across Halton to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, the service was providing support to 13 people, ten people required help and support with personal care. People getting support from the service had various health needs, mental health conditions, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.
People’s experience of using this service:
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support, by promoting choice, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible by offering personalised care and support so that people could have new experiences and develop skills. Improvements were being made so that people remained connected with their wider community.
People felt safe with the support from staff and told us or showed us in their individual ways that they were happy with their care. We saw this reflected in the way staff supported people’s unique ways of communicating. The service embraced and promoted people's equality and diversity.
People were supported by staff who had been safely recruited and were well-supported with training and supervision by senior staff.
Medicines were managed appropriately, people received their medicines as prescribed.
There were systems in place to protect people from abuse.
There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff support was flexible about individuals’ wishes and individual routines. Staff told us that they were well supported and told us everyone worked well together to provide a good service for people. However, we were made aware of some difficulties relating to transfer of staff from another provider and their terms and conditions of employment resulting in strike action. This had an impact on the people using the service with regards to staffing levels at night. We found this was managed well by other staff on different terms and conditions who made sure that people received appropriate levels of support to keep them safe.
People were supported to be active in ways that were meaningful to them, as well as encouraged to try new things, such as bicycle riding for wheelchair users. People, relatives and staff were actively involved in the service and new ways to include them were being developed.
Rating at the last inspection:
This was the first inspection of the service since registration.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection.
Follow up:
We will follow up on this inspection through ongoing monitoring of the service, through conversations and notifications.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
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