58 Acton Lane

Updated 22 May 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care 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 visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we held about the service such as previous inspection reports and statutory notifications. A statutory notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We asked the local authority for any information they had which would assist our inspection. We used this information as part of our planning.

During the inspection we spoke with one person who used the service, one relative, two support workers and the registered manager. We looked at two care plans and risk assessments. We looked at records relating to the management of medicine, staff training, complaints and quality assurance monitoring. Following the inspection, we contacted and spoke with one social worker.

Updated 22 May 2019

About the service: 58 Acton Lane is a supported living service for six people with learning disabilities. During the day of our inspection two people received personal care and lived at the supported living service. However, the supported living scheme was able to accommodate up to six people.

The service had been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensured that people who used the service were able to live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflected the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that included control, choice, and independence. People using the service received planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe with the staff. People were at the centre of their care and support; care plans enabled people to maintain their independence. Care records were detailed and reflected people’s preferences and needs. Staff knew what action to take to protect people from the risk of abuse.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and they were supported in the least restrictive way possible. Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

The staff spoken with respected and understood a person's right to privacy and promoted their independence. People and relatives told us the staff were kind and caring.

Staff demonstrated an interest in their role and the people they supported. It was evident by what people told us that the care provided was centred on the individual.

We observed people who used the service to be relaxed and appeared comfortable with the staff supporting them.

The people's nutritional needs were met, and people were assisted to prepare meals. Advice on diet choices to maintain their health and well-being was provided and staff knew when to refer people to other health professionals.

There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people. The provider's governance was effective in assessing, monitoring and driving improvements therefore, people received an effective and safe space.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a planned scheduled inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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