Fortis Care Hertfordshire

Updated 24 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, 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. This service also operates a domiciliary care agency to provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with 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 visited the agency offices on 18 August 2022 to review a range of records. This included two people's care records and medication records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service including routine audits, training data and service improvement plans.

We received feedback from eight care workers and spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We received feedback from one health and social care professional involved in people’s care. People were not able to communicate with us directly however, three relatives gave positive feedback about how well people were treated and supported to live independent lives.

Updated 24 September 2022

About the service

Fortis Care Hertfordshire is a supported living service and a domiciliary care service. The service provides personal care for people living with a learning disability and/or autism in their own flats. At the time of our inspection there were six people using the service who received the regulated activity of personal care.

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.

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

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.

Right Support

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager and the provider promoted care and support focused on people’s strengths and this promoted their independence. People were encouraged to take positive risks and take part in activities and pursue their interests.

Right Care

Staff showed kindness and compassion when supporting people. People trusted and approached staff with confidence. Staff supported people how they wanted and helped them stay safe and enjoy their lives.

Staff received training and support to understand each person’s needs and their support had a positive impact on people’s lives. People were actively involved in their care. Key workers were allocated to each person to help ensure people had regular input and were involved in evaluating their progress, goals and achievements.

Right Culture

The registered manager and provider promoted a positive, caring and inclusive culture amongst the staff team. Staff morale was good, staff felt listened to and empowered to support people in a personalised and safe way.

The registered manager and provider used a range of audits and governance systems which were effective to quality assure the service provided and identified where improvements were needed. A service improvement plan had been developed to show what actions had been taken and if these were effective to drive forward improvements in the service.

Staff received training and understood best practice when supporting people with a learning disability and/or autism. People and their representatives were involved in their care and their views and choices were respected. Staff felt valued and were involved in developing the service to improve people’s outcomes.

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 good. (Published 20/06/2019)

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of the service, safety management, staffing and social interaction. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led sections of this full report.

Follow up

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