Wakefield Supported Living

Updated 12 June 2018

Inspection site visit activity took place between 27 March and 18 April 2018. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to make arrangements to meet with people and staff and visit a house. We visited the office location on 27 March 2018, to see the manager and review governance records. The inspection team was made up of one adult social care inspector. We met with groups of staff and people who used the service on 29 March 2018 and visited a house, to meet people and staff, and review records, on 18 April 2018.

This was the first inspection of the service at this registered location.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications regarding safeguarding, accidents and changes which the provider had informed us about. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also looked at previous inspection reports. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also sought feedback from the local contracting authority.

During this inspection we visited the office on the first day to discuss governance and meet with the registered manager and two locality managers. On the second day we had group meetings with 19 people who used the service and 16 members of staff in different care roles. On the third day we visited a house and spoke with the staff and people who were present. We looked at records which related to people’s individual care. We looked at three people’s care planning documentation and other records associated with running the service. This included, training records, staff files, the staff rota, audits, medicine records and records of meetings.

Updated 12 June 2018

This comprehensive inspection took place on 27, 29 March and 18 April 2018 and was announced on each day. This was the first inspection of the service at the current registered location.

This service provides care and support to people living in 17 ‘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.

Wakefield Regional Office provides a supported living service for people with a learning disability, some of whom have additional disabilities. Each supported living home is situated in a residential area, within walking distance of shops and local amenities. The homes are located around Pontefract, Wakefield and Castleford and accommodate between two to five people.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received good care and support and they were encouraged to lead lives in line with their own preferences and choices. The emphasis was on supporting people to be as independent as possible. People were involved in making decisions about their care and how the service was run.

Care and support plans contained clear and up to date information and were person-centred. There was clear and specific information about how to support people with personal care, whilst promoting dignity and respect.

People were supported in having their day to day health needs met. Health services such as dentists, doctors and opticians were used as required and there were close links with other services such as the local Community Learning Disability Team.

Staff were knowledgeable about the needs of each person and how they preferred to live their lives. Staff received the training they needed and were supported through regular supervision meetings with a manager. There were safe recruitment practices in place for new staff and there were a sufficient number of staff on duty to meet people’s needs.

There were robust systems in place to keep people safe. Staff were confident about their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and also knew who they could contact regarding any concerns they had about the service.

There was a positive approach to risk taking so that people could be as independent as possible. Risks in peoples’ day to day lives had been identified and measures put in place to keep people safe. The focus was on how each person benefited from the activity undertaken.

Supported living homes were suitable for the people who used the service. Checks and tests were carried out regularly to make sure the environment was safe.

The legislative requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were followed.

Staff told us that the service was well managed and that the provider was involved with the service. The registered manager promoted a culture of respect, involvement and independence. There were good systems in place to make sure that the quality of care was maintained. Areas that required improvement were identified and necessary action taken.