Better Lives (Northants) LTD

Updated 9 August 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 Inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in their own homes and a 'supported living' setting, 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period 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.

Inspection activity started on 11 July 2023 and ended on 18 July 2023. We visited the location’s office on 18 July 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service and 3 people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of staff including 3 support workers, 1 senior support worker, the registered manager and a director. We spoke with a health care professional who works with people who are supported by the service. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and a variety of medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits were reviewed.

Updated 9 August 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Better Lives (Northants) LTD provides care and support for people with a learning disability or autistic people. The service provides care and support to people living in their own homes and to people living in a 'supported living' setting; the people receiving support at the time of inspection lived in their own homes in the community and a four bedroom ‘supported living’ house. 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. At the time of our inspection, the service was supporting 8 people with personal care.

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

The service demonstrated how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support:

Staff were aware of and followed best practice and the principles of Right Support. People received person centred support and their needs were met. Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful life. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing. People were supported with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence. People were enabled to access all the health and social care services they needed. The ‘supported living’ service people received was provided in accommodation, which was similar to the other houses in the area. People were supported to keep their home clean and well maintained. 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.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs and promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. Staff understood people’s communication needs and supported their communication appropriately. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives. Staff and people worked together to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care and support because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. People were empowered because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff placed people's wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people's views.

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 25 December 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.