Archived: Social Care Solutions Ltd (South Beds office)

Updated 1 April 2016

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.

The inspection was unannounced and was carried out on18 September 2015 by one inspector.

Before the inspection we sent out questionnaires to a sample of people using the service, their relatives, staff and community professionals to get their feedback about the service provided. We received 16 responses to these questionnaires. We also checked the information we held about the service and the provider, such as notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During the inspection we visited the registered office and spoke with three people using the service. We also spoke with the manager, the quality, compliance and safeguarding director, a care coordinator and three support staff. We visited  two bungalows and observed the support being provided to people. We  looked at the care records for four people, the records for four staff and the training records for all the staff employed by the service. We reviewed information on how the provider handled complaints and how they assessed and monitored the quality of the service. We also looked at the monitoring report recently completed by the local authority who commission services from the provider.

Updated 1 April 2016

This inspection took place on 18 September 2015 and was unannounced. This service was last inspected in August 2013 and at that time, was meeting all the essential standards looked at during that inspection.

Social Care Solutions Ltd (South Bedfordshire Office) provides an outreach and supported living service to people who have a range of needs including learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders and physical disabilities. At the time of this inspection 29 people were using the service, some of whom lived in supported living accommodation and others who lived in their own homes in the community.

Although there was a manager in place, they were not registered with the Care Quality Commission yet . However,they were in the process of making their application. 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 service had safeguards in place to protect people from the risk of harm. People’s support plans and risk assessments were detailed, person-centred and reflective of their changing needs. Medicines were managed and administered safely and people were supported to manage their own medicines if they wished to and where this was assessed as safe .

Staff received training which was relevant to their role and received regular supervision and support. Interactions between people and staff were positive and friendly and staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported. Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2008 (MCA) and associated regulations.

People had enough to eat and drink. People did their own meal planning, shopping and cooking with support from staff.

People were given opportunities to contribute to their care and support and were included in reviews and meetings. People had a variety of interests and hobbies which they were supported to maintain. People’s daily living skills and independence were encouraged and they were treated with dignity and respect by staff. There were enough staff with the right skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs.

The service had robust quality assurance systems in place and held regular audits to identify any areas that required improvement. There was a complaints policy which detailed how people could make a complaint if required.