Flourishgate Care Services Barking

Updated 1 December 2021

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 inspector.

Service and service type

This service 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 registered manager, who was the provider of the service. 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'. They and the registered provider have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Notice of inspection

This was an announced inspection. We gave the registered manager 24 hours' notice because it is a small service and we needed to be sure they would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 2 November 2021 and ended on 5 November 2021. We visited the office location on 2 November 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included the last inspection report and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection.

We spoke with the registered manager and one support worker. We were unable to speak with some people due to their needs but spoke with relatives.

We viewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We looked at two care plans and staff training records. We also viewed documents relating to quality assurance, medicine management, recruitment and infection control.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We spoke with two relatives for their feedback about the service and two support workers.

Updated 1 December 2021

About the service

Flourishgate Care Services Barking provides personal care to people with learning disabilities or mental health needs in a supported living service. The service can support up to five people and at the time of the inspection, two people were using the service. People lived in shared houses and flats that were in residential areas.

People’s experience of using this service

Improvements had been made in the service following our last inspection in January 2021. The provider had developed more robust quality assurance systems to monitor the safety and quality of the service. However, these improvements would need to be sustained and remain consistent over a period of time.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. The provider’s safeguarding procedures included procedures for adults and young people. Staff were trained in how to identify abuse and report it. Risks to people were assessed and mitigated against. Staffing levels were suitable to support people in their own homes. Staff were recruited safely to ensure they could support people appropriately. Accidents and incidents were reviewed and analysed to learn lessons and help prevent their re-occurrence. Procedures to prevent and control the spread of infections were in place. Medicines were managed safely.

Staff were supported by the registered manager. They received training and ongoing supervision to maintain their skills and development. People were able to choose their food and drink preferences and were supported to attend healthcare appointments. Staff respected people’s privacy and treated them with kindness. People’s dignity and independence was maintained. They had developed positive relationships with staff. They were supported by staff to maintain relationships with family and friends to help avoid social isolation.

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.

Care plans were personalised to meet the needs and preferences of people. There was a complaints process for people and their relatives to use. People were provided information in a format they could understand. Their communication needs were understood by staff. Feedback was sought from people and relatives to help make continuous improvements to the service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, Right care, Right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

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

Right support:

• People had choice and control of how their care and support was delivered to them. They were supported to live as independently as possible in their own homes.

Right care:

• Staff supported people in a person-centred way and promoted their dignity, privacy and human rights.

Right culture:

• The values and attitudes of managers and staff encouraged people to feel empowered in their daily lives.

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

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection, the service was rated Inadequate (report published 19 April 2021). There were multiple breaches of regulation and we issued a Warning Notice to the provider.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 19 April 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as Inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating and to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served, in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, had been met.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.