Archived: Lion Court

Lion Court provides care and support to people living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings, including houses and flats, so that they can live as independently as possible.

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. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 116 people with their personal care needs across St. Helens, Knowsley, Sefton, Liverpool and Warrington.

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

People felt safe with the staff who supported them and knew who they could talk to if they had any concerns. Family members spoke positively about the service and the safety of their loved ones. Staff had received training in relation to safeguarding concerns and were confident they could identify and respond to any incidents of abuse.

Risks to people had been assessed and management plans were in place to support people to manage people's risks safely. Medicines were managed safely by staff who had received the correct training. Accidents and incidents were managed appropriately and created an opportunity for the service to learn and improve.

Infection control procedures were robust and staff had taken additional measures to protect people from infection control risks associated with COVID-19.

There were enough staff and they had they had the necessary skills, experience and support to do their job. Some staff felt that due to the impact of COVID-19, they did not always have adequate, protected time to complete necessary training. This was currently being reviewed by the registered manager and provider.

People's needs had been fully assessed and staff had access to relevant information and guidance to provide effective care and support for people to achieve good outcomes. People had access to health and social care professionals when needed and staff sought advice where people's needs changed.

People were treated with dignity and respect and offered choices. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were kind and caring and told us they had real affection for the people they support. This was echoed by feedback from people and family members and observed through their interactions with people. Promoting independence for people was important to staff and they told us ways they tried to do this.

People received care and support that was individual and personalised to their needs, preferences and desired outcomes. Access to activities had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic so staff had supported people as best as they could with alternatives within the restrictions.

The registered manager, management team and staff understood their responsibilities. Managers promoted a culture that was person-centred and the comments received from people, family members and support staff confirmed this.

Quality assurance systems operated effectively and were used to continually improve the service. The provider and registered manager, regularly engaged with people, family members and staff through a variety of forums to ensure their voice was heard and to praise and acknowledge hard work and achievements.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People were at the centre of their care and were supported to be as independent as possible. Managers and staff empowered people to their own decisions about their care and support.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 30 May 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.