Archived: St Paul's Court

Updated 10 December 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

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, 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

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. We sought feedback from the local authority. We reviewed some information that was requested before 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.

During the inspection

We met and spent time with four people who lived in the supported living location and were able to observe staff interaction with people. We met with three staff who supported people, this included the registered manager. We reviewed a range of people’s records which included medication records. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We contacted three relatives with the consent of people for their view on the service. We also spoke with a member of staff and three visiting health and social care professionals for their feedback. We carried out a visit to the organisations head office to review a selection of recruitment files.

Updated 10 December 2021

About the service

St Paul’s Court is a supported living service providing personal care and support for people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. This service supports people to live in self-contained flats with staff on site to provide support when required and scheduled. Staff have an office and facilities on site and provide 24-hour cover. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to three people, although supported other people within the block of flats.

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

People were supported to have busy active lives that they enjoyed. There were enough staff who had been appropriately trained and supervised to meet people’s assessed needs. People and relatives told us people felt safe and were happy. One relative said, “They are always happy to go back to their flat after staying with us.”

People were protected from the risks of harm, abuse or discrimination because staff knew how to recognise and respond to any possible abuse. Any risks to people were assessed and well managed. Including those risks associated with infections and the management of medicines.

People were encouraged to take control of their own lives and staff worked with them to promote their individual lifestyles. People's health and well-being needs were met. They were supported to have access to healthcare services when they needed them and maintain good mental and physical health.

Staff were very caring, and people felt safe with them. We observed interaction between staff and people, this was pleasant and respectful. Staff spent time finding out what was important to people and ensuring all staff knew how people wanted to be supported.

Staff, people and relatives said the management was good and approachable. Staff had regular meetings to discuss people's needs and any changes to the organisation or the way they worked. Quality systems had been established to monitor and improve the quality of the service.

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.

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 statutory guidance which supports CQC 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 the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and Independence

People were central to everything and made their own decisions and were in charge of their lives and any support. Staff focused on this principle and promoted independence and self-direction whilst being available to promote people’s safety.

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human Rights

People were supported as unique individuals with their privacy and dignity being protected. One visiting professional said. “Staff truly understand and provide person centred care. Their model of care is very good.”

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

Staff described a positive, open culture where they were able to share ideas and deliver effective

care in a supportive team. People were comfortable with staff and had developed trusting relationships that supported them to fulfil whatever they wanted to do.

The registered manager and staff were committed to supporting people to be independent and not to be restricted unnecessarily. Staff regularly reviewed how they supported people to ensure that the support they provided promoted people’s independence and wellbeing as much as possible.

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

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 25 November 2019 and this is 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.