Archived: Aspire Specialised Supported Living Service

About the service

Aspire Specialised Supported Living Service is a supported living service providing personal care to 14 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 15 people with learning disabilities and autism.

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

Right Support

People's independence was promoted and staff encouraged people to take control of their own care. People’s care and support needs were assessed before they started to use the service and care plans were reviewed regularly. Risks associated with people’s care were assessed to identify how their care could be provided safely. Staff supported people to achieve their goals, take part in meaningful activities and pursue their interests where staffing levels permitted. However, the service had struggled with staffing levels at various times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and this had impacted the consistency of some people’s care. We discussed this with the leadership team who evidenced steps taken to promote recruitment and retention of staff through regularly advertising for jobs, financial incentives and a local recruitment drive.

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. People had access to health care professionals when they needed them. The provider had systems in place to support people with end of life care. Medicines were not always managed safely; records contained gaps and did not always clearly identify details on how people’s medicines should be administered. Medicines were not always stored safely.

Right culture

People received good quality care, support and treatment because staff were trained in areas related to their needs and they received regular supervision from support leaders. Feedback from relatives on the culture within the service was mixed. Some relatives felt support and care had been provided to a high standard with very good outcomes for people. However, other relatives were equally as concerned with the outcomes for people and felt this was because of a lack of continuity and motivation within people’s allocated staff teams.

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

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Aspire Specialist Supported Living Service provides support to assist people to live more independently in Supported Living premises in Leeds. At the time of the inspection eight people were supported across two sites. At one site, seven people lived within a purpose-built accommodation with large gardens which opened in March 2020. Accommodation was split into two separate buildings, with capacity for up to 14 people. Further support packages were planned as more people moved in over the coming weeks. A further person was also supported at separate accommodation nearby.

The way the service was set up and staff worked promoted the principals and values underpinning Registering the Right Support.

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

People and relatives we spoke with praised the service and said that staff were kind and caring and had helped people settle into the service well. We found some improvements were required to medicines management procedures, the management team responded positively to these issues and we were confident they would be promptly addressed.

Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and appropriately managed. The service had worked closely with professionals to help meet people’s needs. Detailed and person-centred risk assessments were in place. Incidents were recorded although more robust analysis was required to track themes and trends over time. There were enough staff deployed to ensure people received appropriate care and support, the main accommodation was over staffed as some people had yet to move in. Staff adhered to good infection prevention practice.

The service had operated almost entirely under COVID-19 restrictions and this had made setting up a new service very challenging. We concluded the management and staff team had worked well during this time, providing extensive on the ground support to people and staff to help reduce risks to people.

Whilst the service had only been operating for several months, we found care and support was person-centred and with support being tailored to people’s individual needs. People, staff and relatives all praised the service and the management team. Governance systems were in place and these were continuing to be adapted and developed as the service progressed. People’s views and feedback were acted on and used to make improvements to the service. More formal feedback mechanisms continued to be developed.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 25 July 2019 and this is the first inspection.

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Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection schedule. We completed a focussed inspection. During this inspection we looked at two key areas Is the service safe? and Is the service well-led? We do not look at all the five key questions during a focussed inspection. Therefore, the service was not given an overall 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.