Background to this inspection
Updated
18 August 2022
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 Act.
Inspection team
One inspector carried out the inspection.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in ‘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.
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was no registered manager in post. The manager had applied to register with CQC and the application was pending.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the settings are small, and people may have been out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home.
Inspection activity started on 20 July 2022 and ended on 22 July 2022. We visited the office location on 20 July 2022.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service, their relatives and an advocate. We spoke with the manager, regional manager, two support staff and the health and safety champion. We contacted five more staff via email, and four more health and social care professionals via email and telephone.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and samples of medication records. We looked at two staff files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including auditing, training data, policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
18 August 2022
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
Church View is a ‘supported living’ service providing personal care to people with a learning disability and/or autism living in their own tenancies in bungalows and flats in ‘supported living’ settings. The service was supporting three people with personal care at the time of our inspection.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support
¿ People were supported and encouraged to follow their goals and aspirations. They tried new things and learned new skills. People were encouraged to push themselves, balancing risks with increasing independence.
¿ People took pride in their homes; they had personalised them inside and out.
¿ People were supported to access health and social care support. They experienced some good health and wellbeing outcomes through working with external healthcare professionals.
¿ Staff supported people to take their medicines in their preferred way, and to have their medicines needs reviewed, in line with good practice guidance.
Right Care
¿ Staff were sufficiently skilled and experienced to meet people’s needs. They understood that people had very different levels of independence and helped them accordingly.
¿ People had made friends and saw their relatives regularly. They were protected from the risk of social isolation.
¿ Staff understood people’s communication styles and had a good rapport with them.
¿ Support plans and risk assessments reflected people’s needs. Support plans which set out people’s goals were not always updated in a timely fashion, although people did meet the goals they set for themselves.
¿ Staff were kind, patient and took a genuine interest in people. They respected people’s privacy and dignity.
¿ Staff worked well with other agencies to keep people safe. They had relevant training on safeguarding and how to report suspected abuse.
Right culture
¿ The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff were in line with the key principles of guidance such as Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture. The manager was relatively new and was not always fully aware of some relevant best practice, but they were keen to develop and had made a range of improvements at the service. Staff felt well supported by the manager and could raise any issues. External professionals provided positive feedback regarding the manager’s approach.
¿ People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. Care plans were reviewed regularly.
¿ Staff knew people well and were responsive to their support needs.
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. This was a planned inspection based on when the service first registered with us.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.