Archived: Creative Support - Slough Supported Living

Creative Support – Slough Supported Living is a supported living service providing personal care to people with a learning disability in their own homes. People were supported in two shared buildings and the service also offered floating community support. Garrick House supported ten people in tenancy owned individual flats and Oaktree Corner supported three people in a shared house. At the time of this inspection only the ten people at Garrick House were receiving support under the regulated activity of personal care that CQC inspect. Other people received wider forms of social care and support.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service however did not always consistently receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

Staffing levels for people whose care was commissioned was determined by the local authority.

The staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s basic care needs. Incident records did not demonstrate that incidents were always fully investigated, or the necessary action was taken to keep people safe.

CQC’s remit with regard to supported living is that we inspect the personal care element only and have no regulatory remit with regard to the accommodation. People living at Garrick House were not satisfied with the quality and safety of their accommodation. The provider was advocating on behalf of people to request that the landlord make repairs and improvements to the premises.

We made a recommendation that where specific health or medical needs are identified, the provider sources the appropriate knowledge and/or training to ensure staff have these necessary skills.

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.

People received kind and caring support from compassionate staff who knew them well. Staff treated people with dignity and respect.

The management team and staff were clear that they wanted to drive improvement in the service and increase opportunities for people.

The service did not consistently apply 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's support did not always focus on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was registered by CQC with a new provider on 6 June 2018. This was the first inspection visit to the service under the new provider.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the relevant sections of this full report.

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.