Devon Enhanced Recovery Service

Updated 25 December 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

There was no registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The current manager was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection, we used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also reviewed the information we held about the service and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people receiving a service and six members of staff. We spent time talking with people and observing the interactions between them and staff.

We reviewed three people’s care files, two staff files, staff training records and a selection of policies, procedures and records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

After our visit we sought feedback from health and social care professionals to obtain their views of the service provided to people. We did not receive any feedback.

Updated 25 December 2019

About the service

Devon Enhanced Recovery Service is a supported living service which provides care and support to people living in two ‘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. At the time of our inspection four people were receiving ‘personal care.’

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

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.

The service provided safe care to people. People felt safe and supported by staff in their homes. Comments included: “I feel safe here and would speak to the staff if I was concerned about anything.” Comprehensive risk assessments were in place. Medicines were safely managed on people’s behalf.

Care files were personalised to reflect people’s personal preferences. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet. Health and social care professionals were regularly involved in people’s care to ensure they received the care and treatment which was right for them.

Staff relationships with people were caring and supportive. Staff treated people with dignity and respect when helping them with daily living tasks. The service ensured people led meaningful and fulfilled lives.

There were safe staff recruitment and selection processes in place. People received effective care and support from staff who were well trained and competent.

Staff spoke positively about communication and how the manager worked well with them and encouraged their professional development.

A number of methods were used to assess the quality and safety of the service people received, and continuous improvements were made in response to the findings.

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

Rating at last inspection and update: The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 November 2018) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Devon Enhanced Recovery Service on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.