St Mary's House

Updated 10 February 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 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 5 ‘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.

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 because some of the people using the service could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. We gave the provider time to discuss our visit with people to ensure their best interests were considered.

Inspection activity started on 8 December 2022 and ended on 20 December 2022. We visited the location’s office on 12 December 2022.

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 and professionals 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 3 people who used the service and 2 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, the service manager, the operations manager and support workers. We reviewed a range of records, this included 2 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 10 February 2023

About the service

St George’s House is a supported living service. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care to 12 people. The service provides support to adults with learning disabilities and autistic people.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and 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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right Support

Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Risks to people's safety were considered and clear guidance was put in place to support staff. People were supported by enough staff who had received training and had the skills to complete specific tasks. Staff supported people to maintain relationships that were important to them and pursue their interests. 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's health needs were well supported, and people's medicine was safely managed. Staff supported people to maintain their home and purchase items that met their individual needs. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. The provider was actively recruiting new staff to ensure people received consistent care and support. Staff had access to protective personal equipment (PPE) to limit the risk of infection.

Right culture

People, their relatives and staff felt able to raise any concerns. They were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the service. The registered manager had actioned concerns raised since being in post to make improvements to people’s care. Lessons were learnt when things went wrong. The provider carried out regular audits and shared best practice amongst the staff team. The management team and staff worked with external health and social care professionals to support people and effectively meet their needs.

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 21 July 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good published on 26 September 2019.

Why we inspected

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