This inspection took place on 29 November 2016 and was announced.Creating Lifestyles Surbiton Limited provides personal care to people with learning disabilities who live in their own homes in order for them to maintain their independence. The service consists of two shared houses where people hold their own tenancies, but have staff on site for support at all times.
At the time of our inspection the provider confirmed they were providing personal care, as regulated by us, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to 8 people. The service also supported several other people who did not receive any personal care. Information relating to other people could not be included in this report.
There was a registered manager in post. 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.
Staff had a good understanding of abuse and the safeguarding procedures that should be followed to report abuse. Staff were confident that they were able to keep people safe and report abuse if they saw it.
People had risk assessments in place to positively support them to be as independent as possible. People understood the risk assessments that were in place for them, and staff found them easy to follow and useful.
Staffing levels were adequate to meet people's current needs. We saw that the service had a consistent staffing level and people received the support they needed.
The staff recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service.
Staff induction training and on-going training was provided to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and support they needed to perform their roles.
People told us that their medicines were administered safely and on time. We saw that medication administration was accurately recorded and medication was safely stored.
Staff were well supported by the registered manager and senior team, and had regular one to one
supervisions. Staff were confident in their roles and told us they could access help whenever they needed it.
People's consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were met.
People were able to choose the food and drink they wanted and staff supported people with this. People told us they were able to eat whenever they chose to and were encouraged to maintain a healthy diet.
People were supported to access health appointments when necessary. People we spoke with were either able to arrange and attend appointments themselves, or have staff support them to do so if they required.
Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes. People told us they were happy with the staff team that supported them and were able to develop good relationships.
People were involved in their own care planning and were able to contribute to the way in which they were supported. People were consulted about their care and offered choices on a daily basis.
The service had a complaints procedure in place to ensure that people and their families were able to provide feedback about their care and to help the service make improvements where required.
The people we spoke with knew how to use it.
Quality monitoring systems and processes were used effectively to drive future improvement and identify where action was needed