Chanel House

Updated 16 October 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. 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 was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a Supported Living service. It provides care and support to people living in three ‘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 had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us. Inspection activity started on 8 May 2019 and ended on 14 May 2019. We visited the office and houses where people lived on 10 and 13 May 2019

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection

During the inspection-

We spoke with seven people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, registered manager, senior care workers and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four 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.

Updated 16 October 2019

About the service

Chanel House is a service providing live in and care visits to people in their homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

The service supported 28 people over nine locations with 10 people receiving personal care at three of the homes. One person lived in a purpose built flat, three people shared a single ‘house in multi-occupation’ and six people lived in house that was converted into four apartments. A broad age range of people used the service, some of whom had needs associated with learning disabilities, dementia, epilepsy and other complex needs.

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

People, their relatives and healthcare professionals all gave positive views of how well this service met people's individual needs. People and relatives praised the staff for their caring attitudes and their commitment to support people to overcome barriers in their lives and live life to the full.

Some relatives described how people had positively changed beyond their expectations and how the service had enabled this. This had resulted in milestone achievements which positively impacted on people’s lives as well as those of their families and friends.

People and, where appropriate, their relatives were involved in care and goal planning and received regular updates about people’s progress. One relative commented, “For the first time I feel as if I am sharing their life and we are being listened to. The care provided and openness of staff is exactly what has been lacking, to describe their support as wonderful would be an understatement and disservice, it is far, far beyond that.”

People`s care plans were personalised and reflected their views about how they wanted staff to support them. There were regular meetings with people, relatives and professionals to ensure care and support needs were reviewed and they were happy with the support they received.

Relatives consistently told us the service exceeded their expectations in supporting people to achieve better outcomes which had not been possible where they had lived previously.

People took part in a range of personal development programmes. Individual programmes were designed to offer both familiar and new experiences to people, and the opportunity to develop new skills. People accessed a range of community facilities and activities within the service.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies, systems and ethos in the service supported this practice.

Positive risk taking was a focus within the organisation to enable people to live the life they wanted and be part of the community. People, where possible, were supported to understand the risk involved in any activities they did and how to stay safe.

People were able to decide which staff supported them, this included the transfer of staff from residential services, owned by the provider, to continue to work with people in their new supported living setting.

People were supported to receive the care they wanted. Medicines were managed safely and people were supported to follow medicine pathways of their choice. People maintained good nutrition and hydration. They were encouraged to shop and cook for themselves, people were supported to follow lifestyle dietary choices.

People were protected because risks had been assessed and any measures needed to mitigate these were fully documented. New staff were only recruited once they had all their checks to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.

People's health and emotional wellbeing was closely monitored and responded to when needed.

The service was flexible and adaptable to each person`s needs to ensure people reached their full potential and could live as independently as possible in their own homes.

The provider had a well-developed management system in place with clear responsibilities for every member of their staff team. This ensured communication was effective and the decision-making process for any actions needed to improve the service were taken promptly.

The provider's governance was well-embedded and there were effective assurance systems that ensured self-compliance. The provider proactively monitored the quality of the service, the risk management plans, training for staff and other areas of the service. They effectively measured the impact the changes had on the quality of the service delivered.

There was an extremely positive culture within the service, the management team provided strong leadership and led by example. The registered manager had a clear vision and strong values about how people were supported, which was echoed by all the staff we spoke with. Staff were proud to work for the provider and felt they were an active part of an organisation where they mattered, people mattered and all voices were heard.

The provider positively influenced the care and support people with a learning disability and autism received in the community by engaging people in community-based projects. The relative of a person receiving care championed the service and acted as a point of contact for people and their families who were considering using the service. This allowed them to receive objective feedback based upon experience of using the service.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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 30 October 2015.) Since this rating was awarded the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.