Foundary House

Updated 6 August 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 carried out by an inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to three people living in ‘supported living’ settings, 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people available to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We contacted and received feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection and formulate our ‘planning tool’.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people using the service about their experience of the care provided via a video call and email. We also spoke with the registered manager, the responsible individual and three members of staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at three people’s care records and a selection of other records including quality monitoring records, recruitment and training records for all four staff.

Inspection activity started on 23 June 2021 and ended on 8 July 2021.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 August 2021

About the service

Foundary House is a supported living service which supports young adults in their own homes using a ‘step down’ model of support. Some people live alone in single occupancy houses, while others chose to live together in homes of multiple occupancy (HMO’s). Staff provide 24 hour support for people in their homes and there is a designated room in the property for staff to use.

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

People told us they liked the staff and felt well supported. Comments included, “They are good, yes.” Staff were recruited safely, and checks were undertaken to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. There were enough staff employed to be able to support people safely. Infection control processes were in place. Incidents and accidents were recorded and action was taken where needed. Medicines were stored securely in people’s homes with their consent.

Staff had undergone an in depth training programme to support people with positive behaviour strategies, as well as other mandatory training. Staff were supervised and appraised in line with the providers policy, and staff told us they felt well supported by MY3. People had contributed to the design and decoration of their own homes, as well as the content of their own support plans.

Staff were kind and caring, they spoke enthusiastically about their roles, and had a vast knowledge of the people they supported. People we spoke with confirmed staff were kind.

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’s care plans were person centred and contained a high level of information regarding each person’s routines and daily planners. Complaints were routinely audited and there was a complaints process in place which was available in different formats to help support people to complain if they needed to.

There were audits and quality checks in place, complete with action plans. The registered manager understood their role and responsibilities and had reported all notifiable incidents to CQC.

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 principles of ‘Right support, right care, right culture’. The model of care and setting helped to maximise people’s choice, control and Independence. The level of care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights and the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured that people using the service lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 8 August 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We inspected this service in line with our planned inspection regime.