Offices 405

Updated 22 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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.

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 a 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the office and met with the registered manager and the deputy manager.

We also visited two people in their own home. People using the service were unable to communicate verbally. We observed them to see how staff were interacting with people to provide them with quality of care and support. We spoke with two members of staff and three relatives of people. We reviewed three care records for three people. We looked at staff records in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service and quality monitoring systems.

After the inspection:

We continued reviewing information received from the provider.

Updated 22 September 2022

Offices 405 is a supported living service providing personal care in Slough. The service provides support to younger adults and people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service. Three people received the regulated activity of personal care.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care, which is help with tasks relating 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:

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area and to interact online with people who had shared their interests. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People received care that met their needs and aspirations, was focused on their quality of life, and followed best practice.

Right Culture:

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People received good quality care, support and treatment because appropriately trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff turnover was very low, which ensured people received consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 2 December 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the first inspection of the service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks.

Follow up

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