Kendal Supported Living Service

Updated 15 March 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of two adult social care inspectors.

Service and service type:

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings including flats and houses with multiple occupation, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. in multiple occupation are properties where no more than five people in more than one household share communal areas. There are also facilities for staff to sleep in at night.

People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate the premises that are used for this inspection we looked at people's personal care and support. 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:

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff. We needed to be sure that they would be in. We visited the office location to see the manager and to review care records and policies and procedures

What we did:

•With the permission of people who used the service we visited and spoke with seven of them in their own homes.

•Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

•We asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

•We contacted three relatives and two social and healthcare professionals and spoke with two staff.

•We reviewed eight people's care records, staff personnel files, audits and other records about the management of the service.

•We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This was received and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 15 March 2019

About the service: South Cumbria Domiciliary Support Services (Kendal) provides personal care and support to people with learning disabilities in their own homes. People using the service lived in a variety of ordinary flats and houses some in multi-occupation shared by other people in the town of Kendal. At the time of the inspection there were 24 people receiving the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. The purpose of the service is to enable people to live as independently as possible in the community.

At the last inspection in November 2017 we found the service required improvement in three of the key questions and we made a recommendation to the provider that they developed the processes used in the quality of their auditing systems. At this inspection we found the service had improved and the processes used for monitoring the safety and quality of the service provided had been improved.

There were sufficient numbers of suitable staff to meet people's needs and at times that allowed people to be flexible with their daily routines. Staff had received training was applicable to people’s needs and was on going. Staff were supported by the registered manager and their team supervisors through regular staff meetings, supervision and appraisals.

Support provided to people respected their privacy, dignity and promoted their independence. It was clear from our observations that staff knew people's needs well. We observed kind, caring and friendly interactions taking place.

Hazards to people's safety both in their homes and in the community, had been identified and appropriately managed. People received the right level of support they needed to take their medicines safely. The staff identified if people were unwell and supported them to contact health professionals.

People we spoke with made very positive comments about the service provided and the staff who supported them and told us they were very happy.

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

More information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection:

Requires Improvement (The date last report published was 15 January 2018)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service has improved to Good.