Archived: SENSE - 55 Shipdham Road

Updated 11 May 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

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. The Care Quality Commission does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The service currently provides support to five people who share a house. Staff provide support 24 hours a day on a rota basis.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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. They are referred to as the “registered manager” throughout the report.

The registered manager had joined the service in the past year and had introduced changes to the service to improve the quality of care.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available to speak with us.

What we did:

Before the inspection we looked at all the information that we had about the service.

• This included information from statutory notifications. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

• We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

• We also contacted professionals working with the service for their views.

During the inspection

• We spoke to the registered manager, the deputy manager and three support staff. The deputy manager also worked in the service providing care.

• We spoke to two people who used the service and three relatives.

• We reviewed two people’s care records.

• We looked at the medicine administration records (MAR) and supporting documents for three people.

• We looked at records relating to the governance and management of the service.

Updated 11 May 2019

About the service: Sense – 55 Shipdham Road provides care and support to people with learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection it was providing support to five people who used the regulated service. This service provides care and support to people living in “supported living” settings so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible.

People’s experience of using this service:

• The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

• People were protected from abuse, neglect and discrimination.

• Individual risks to people were assessed and managed to keep people safe while promoting their independence.

• There were enough suitably qualified staff to meet people’s needs.

• Medicines systems were organised, and people were receiving their medicines when they should.

• Incidents and accidents were reviewed, and lessons learned to keep people safe in the future.

• People’s needs were holistically assessed.

• Staff were skilled and knowledgeable and had the training they needed to carry out their roles.

• The service worked with other agencies to ensure that people received the healthcare they needed to live healthier lives and improve their independence and wellbeing.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

• People and relatives told us that the staff were kind and caring and knew people well.

• People were supported to express their views and to be involved in decisions about their care.

• The service was responsive to people’s needs in a way that helped them to develop skills and become more independent.

• The service recognised that in the future they may need to care for people at the end of their life and had a strategy to put systems in place to support this.

• The service was well led. People, relatives and staff all gave positive feedback about the management of the service.

• The registered manager valued and supported staff and was committed to high-quality, person-centred care and support.

• There was an ethos of continuous learning to develop the service and improve care. People, relatives and staff were all involved in this process.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated good. (Report published 14 October 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our reinspection schedule for those services rated good.

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