South Farm Road

Updated 3 March 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by two inspectors. Both inspectors attended the site visit.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in one 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 full time manager who was in the process of registering with CQC as the registered manager for the service. The provider is 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 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. This was also to establish the safest and most appropriate way of carrying out our inspection visit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. This included insurance documentation, accident and incident records, people’s care and medication records, staff training records, quality assurance documents and information about complaints. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the manager, senior care worker and care worker.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and sent to us prior to inspection. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who have had regular contact with the service.

Updated 3 March 2021

About the service

South Farm Road is a Supported Living Service providing personal care and support to people living in their own home. People living at the service had a learning disability and complex needs including physical health needs and behaviours that challenge. At the time of inspection 6 people were receiving a service from one location.

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 were tenants in a shared house in a residential street. Each person had a tenancy agreement with the landlord. The property was over two floors and had been adapted to meet the needs of people who lived there. People had their own bedrooms and bathrooms and shared the communal kitchen and dining room.

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

Staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding people and the manager was quick to respond to safeguarding concerns. Risks to people's safety had been thoroughly assessed, monitored and managed so they were supported to stay safe. People received support from a skilled and consistent team of staff who knew them well. People received their medicines safely and were safe as a result of good infection prevention and control.

There was a person-centred culture evident within the service. The manager and staff were motivated and proud of the service they provided. Staff had received the training required to support people’s needs. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to access health care services. 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.

People were treated with dignity and compassion by a kind, caring team who understood people's individual needs, choices and preferences. Peoples care plans were clear and detailed to guide staff in how to support people safely and in the way they preferred. People were involved in making decisions about their care and staff ensured their voice was heard through utilising varied and effective methods of communication tailored to individuals needs.

The management team had good oversight of the service and a clear vision for the future. Staff felt supported, valued and able to share their opinions. Staff received supervision and were encouraged to develop their knowledge and skills. Systems and processes were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered and lessons learned when things went wrong. Staff enjoyed working for the service and the enthusiasm from the team impacted positively on the people they supported.

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 guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Care and support was planned to ensure people had a good quality of life. People were supported to make choices about where they go, what they do and to follow their own interests. People could access the local community and local health services. People were supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them, and prior to the current pandemic, could visit people outside their home and have people visit them.

Right care:

• Care and support planning documents were person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. The service focussed on peoples strengths and used a positive risk taking approach when considering what support people needed to help keep them safe. People had unrestricted access to their home and their own rooms which promoted privacy and dignity. The service worked to ensure that people’s human rights were met and supported people to understand they have the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens.

Right culture:

• The manager and staff at the service demonstrated values, attitudes and behaviours which supported people to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Staff had received specific training to meet the needs of people with a learning disability and spoke passionately about people and the care and support they provided. The service promoted an open and transparent culture which encouraged people and their families to share their views and make a complaint.

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

This service was registered with us on 25 November 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the first inspection for this newly registered service. CQC is required to inspect newly registered services under its inspection protocol.

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.