North East Supported Living

Updated 15 September 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

An inspector carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to relatives of people who used 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 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.

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 a short period notice of the inspection 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.

Inspection activity started on 25 July 2022 and ended on 12 August 2022. We visited the office and supported living setting during the course of the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local commissioners and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to submit 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 information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 16 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided, met a third person and contacted three relatives.

We spoke with the registered manager, team leader and a care staff member. We also received feedback from all of the staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s care records, three staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 15 September 2022

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and 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 supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

North East Supported Living provides care and support to people living in a 'supported living' setting. Supported living settings support people to live in their own home as independently as possible. People's housing is provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living. At the time of the inspection there were four people who have a learning disability using the service. They lived together in a house on a residential street.

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

Right Support

People were regularly asked for their opinions and gave them freely. People were involved in discussions about their support and given information in a way they understood. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area. People told us they could choose their own social interests and were supported by staff to do this. Some people told us since moving to their new house their range of skills and social activities had increased. Where people had support, they told us this was flexible, available when they needed it and to the level they needed.

Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing. People were supported safely with medicines. Infection prevention and control practices reflected good practice. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. People had accessed preventative services such as screening for health conditions.

Right Care

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right culture

The service was open to new ways of working and ongoing improvements were introduced to promote independence and inclusivity. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. Additional training needs were explored with staff and provided to meet people’s needs. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. They sought advice and feedback from everyone involved in people's care. Staff were aware of and working to best practice guidance for supporting people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

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

This service was registered with us on 29 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We assessed whether the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.