Warwickshire Supported Living

Updated 21 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 team consisted of two adult social care inspectors.

Service and service type:

Warwickshire Supported Living is registered as a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people in their own homes and supported living locations. It provides a service to older and younger adults with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder.

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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection site visit so the registered manager would be available. We also wanted to contact people in their own homes and we needed support from the registered manager to arrange this. The inspection was completed on 29 April 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications the provider is required by law to send us about events that happen within the service such as serious injuries. The registered manager had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service such as Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent organisation which collects people's views about health and social care services. The feedback from these organisations was used in planning for the inspection and helped identify some key lines of enquiry. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During our inspection visit we spoke with five people and four relatives to ask about the care they received. We spoke with the registered manager (who was also the area operations manager), service manager, assistant service manager and five members of support staff. Following our visit we spoke to one healthcare professional.

We reviewed two people’s support plans in full and specific aspects in other people’s care records. We looked at two people’s medicine records, induction and training records, records of incidents and accidents as well as management quality and assurance checks.

Updated 21 May 2019

About the service:

Warwickshire Supported Living is registered as a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to people in their own homes and supported living accommodation. At the time of our inspection 13 people were being supported with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

Staff vacancies had recently improved. Although there had been a reliance on agency workers, people now received care from staff that knew them well.

Staff were recruited safely, and processes checked the background of potential new staff.

Staff understood how to keep people safe and how to report any concerns they may have.

Staff knew about the risks associated with people’s health and wellbeing and understood how to minimise risks to them.

Accidents and incidents had been recorded and any immediate action had been taken to reduce the risk of the event happening again. Overall analysis to identify patterns and trends were being improved.

Staff supported people to take their medicines in line with their personal preferences. Where medication errors had occurred, medical advice had been sought to ensure people’s safety.

Staff understood how to prevent the spread of infection.

People’s needs were assessed to ensure they could be met by the service.

Staff received a thorough induction and had access to the training and guidance they needed to complete their role well.

People made their own decisions about their care and were supported by staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were offered choices. For example, in the meals and drinks they were offered.

Staff respected people’s rights to privacy and dignity.

People received information about the service in a way that was appropriate to their needs.

Care plans were personalised and contained the information and guidance staff needed to support people to achieve their goals and aspirations.

Systems were in place to manage and respond to any complaints or concerns raised.

The registered manager had systems and processes to monitor quality within the home. Any identified issues were addressed.

The registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities and shared information with stakeholders. However, there was one occasion had not been done in a timely way.

Lessons had been learned when things went wrong.

Rating at last inspection:

Good. (The last report was published on 11 November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to confirm that the service remained good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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