Background to this inspection
Updated
18 March 2021
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
This inspection was carried out by one inspector and one Expert by Experience who made telephone calls to people and relatives of people using the service. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in four ‘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.
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
This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection as we were mindful of the impact and added pressures of COVID-19 pandemic on the service and needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available to support the inspection. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances and requirements arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also wanted to make sure that people’s consent to a home visit from an inspector was obtained.
Inspection activity started on 10 February 2021 and ended on 22 February 2021. We visited the office location and two supported living schemes on 10 February 2021. On 16, 17 and 18 February 2021 we spoke with people, relatives and staff. Feedback of the inspection process was provided to the registered manager on 22 February 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service and formal notifications that the service had sent to the CQC. Notifications are information that registered persons are required to tell us about by law that may affect people’s health and wellbeing. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We briefly greeted and spoke with three people. We also spoke with the registered manager, an area manager, one service manager and one team leader. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and four people’s medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at a further two care plans, six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with a further three people using the service and five relatives. We also spoke with an additional five members of staff including one deputy manager and four support workers.
Updated
18 March 2021
About the service
Carterhatch Supported Living Services is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own home within supported living projects. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 13 people who needed support with their learning and physical disabilities, autism and mental health.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People who were able to communicate with us expressed content and happiness with the care and support they received from Carterhatch Supported Living Services. We also observed people who were non-communicative engaging with support staff positively and confidently.
Relatives of people using the service spoke positively of the service and the care and support that their family member received stating that they had developed caring and respectful relationships with the support staff that supported them.
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 guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence. Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives
We observed people interacting with support staff in ways which assured us that people felt safe and were happy in the ways in which they were supported. Staff knew the signs to look for if abuse was suspected and told us of the actions they would take to protect people from abuse.
Support plans detailed people’s identified risks associated with their health and care needs, with clear guidance to staff on how to manage those risks to keep people safe.
Safe medicines management and administration processes in place ensured people received their medicines as prescribed and on time.
We observed sufficient numbers of staff available to assist people with their assessed needs. Staffing levels were reviewed and adjusted depending on the level of support people required daily. Recruitment processes ensured that only those staff assessed as safe to work with vulnerable adults were employed.
People were supported by support staff who had been appropriately trained and were skilled in their role. Support staff told us they were regularly supported through supervision and annual appraisals.
People were supported to eat and drink to maintain a balanced and healthy diet. The service supported people to lead healthy lives and supported them to access relevant health care services where required.
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.
Support plans were person centred and detailed, giving support staff the appropriate information and guidance to support people with their needs and wishes.
People approached managers and support staff with their questions and concerns whenever they wanted and we observed staff attending to them immediately. Relatives knew who to speak with if they had any complaints and were confident their concerns would be dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner.
Management oversight processes in place enabled the service to monitor the quality of care people received. Where issues were identified these were addressed immediately with further learning and development implemented to improve people’s experiences.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection. The service was registered with us on 28 February 2019 and this was the first inspection.
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.