Woodlea Supported Accommodation

Updated 30 October 2020

The inspection

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had made the required improvements following the inspection in May 2019. Two key questions were inspected; 'Is the Service Responsive?' and 'Is the Service Well-Led?'

Inspection team

One adult social care inspector undertook this inspection on 17 September 2020. An expert by experience contacted three people living at Woodlea and one relative by telephone on 21 September 2020.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in their own supported living setting within Woodlea, so 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. A registered manager 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 the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection visit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we wanted to review documentation remotely and also make arrangements to speak with staff and other stakeholders in the service by telephone after our site visit. This helped minimise the time we spent in face to face contact with the manager, staff and people who used the service and the risk of the spread of infection was minimised.

What we did

Prior to the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications. A statutory notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information providers must send us to give us key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

We looked at records relating to the management of the home. These included quality monitoring systems, audits, support plans, surveys, meeting minutes and complaint records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with three members of support staff over the telephone to gather their opinions of the service.

Updated 30 October 2020

About the service

Woodlea Supported Accommodation (Woodlea) is a supported living service. This service supports up to 15 people with enduring mental health needs. There were 14 people living at the service at the time of the inspection. 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.

Woodlea is a large detached house in the Chorlton area of Greater Manchester. Woodlea is situated in a residential area, close to local shops and other amenities. People living at Woodlea have their own tenancies and receive varying degrees of support from the care provider on site. People living at Woodlea were not obliged to receive care and support from this service. Tenancy agreements stipulated that people were free to choose other care providers to provide care and support.

People's experience of using this service

Improvements had been made following the previous inspection in May 2019. Staff supported people to be more independent with activities of daily living, such as shopping, preparing drinks and doing laundry. People were treated as individuals. Support was delivered according to their needs and wishes, as outlined in support plans.

At our last inspection we recommended that further consideration should be given to providing engagement in social and leisure activities on a one to one basis out in the community for people. We saw on this inspection the recommendation had been met. People participated in a range of activities. The service had introduced new ways of working during the COVID-19 pandemic so that people were better supported and entertained at Woodlea.

People could raise a concern or make a complaint in various ways and the service produced easy read formats of leaflets to help with this. The registered manager and the staff team were committed to improving the quality of care and support for people living at Woodlea and looked for ways to improve on the service provided. We received positive feedback about the quality of care and support people received and the overall management of the service. People told us they were happy with their support and were treated with respect. Relatives were also complimentary of the service and its staff.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 27 September 2019). At this inspection we found improvements had been made. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service in May 2019 and made a recommendation in relation to supporting people access meaningful activities. We undertook this focused inspection to check the service had improved. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions previously rated requires improvement; responsive and well-led.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Woodlea Supported Accommodation on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.