Atlantic Way Care

Updated 7 June 2022

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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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 registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six members of staff, which included the registered manager. We visited and spoke with three people who used the service.

We reviewed a range of records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the care and support provided, three staff files in relation to recruitment and various policies and procedures were reviewed. We requested a variety of records were sent to us relating to staff training and regards the management of the service. These included specific audits/reports relating to the quality and safety of the service to ensure people received safe care and support specific to their individual needs.

After the inspection

After our visit we sought feedback from relatives and health and social care professionals to obtain their views of the service provided to people. We received feedback from two relatives and two health and social care professionals. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We provided initial feedback to the service on 18 May 2022.

Updated 7 June 2022

About the service

Atlantic Way Care provides care and support to people living in nine ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. 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. There were currently five people receiving a service.

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.

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; Right care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights; Right culture: Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

People’s equality, diversity and human rights were respected. The service’s vision and values centred around the people they supported. The organisation’s statement of purpose documented a philosophy of maximising people’s life choices, encouraging independence and people having a sense of worth and value. Our inspection found that the organisation’s philosophy was embedded in Atlantic Way Care. For example, people were constantly encouraged to lead rich and meaningful lives.

People felt safe and supported by staff in their homes. A person commented, “I like living here. I feel safe and can go to the staff with any concerns.” A relative commented, “(Relative) is safe. I have no concerns.” Staff demonstrated an understanding of what might constitute abuse and knew how to report any concerns they might have. Medicines were managed as necessary. Infection control measures were in place.

People’s individual risks were identified, and risk assessment reviews were carried out to identify ways to keep people safe.

The service had recently been working closely with health professionals with regards to a person’s diabetes management. As a result, a more robust diabetes protocol and full care plan was now in place and staff were to receive bespoke diabetes training specific to the person’s diabetes management to ensure staff felt confident and competent in recognising and responding to changes in their condition.

The registered manager confirmed they had experienced difficulties with staffing, largely due to recruitment difficulties. They were working to address this and provide a safe service. People’s core hours were covered in order to meet people’s needs; however, the service was unable to always cover people’s additional one to one hours. The registered manager was ensuring the local authority was aware of this when it happened ensuring transparency and accountability. The provider was actively recruiting for staff on an ongoing process via various advertising sources. The service had developed a dedicated recruitment on-boarding team and new staff were now in the ‘pipeline’ to commence employment once all appropriate checks had been completed.

Care files were personalised to reflect people’s personal preferences. Their views and suggestions were taken into account to improve the service. 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 provided care that was kind and compassionate. Comments included, “The staff are kind, I like living here”, “The staff are nice people”, “The staff are always very friendly and helpful” and “The staff are very kind, they are magic.”

There were effective 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 registered 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. The service made continuous improvements in response to their findings.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 23 October 2020 and this is their first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.