Background to this inspection
Updated
1 May 2020
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
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. 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
This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to obtain people's consent to a home visit from an inspector and it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider's representative would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We contacted professionals in local authority commissioning teams and safeguarding teams. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and one relative. We spoke with four staff, including the registered manager, a support worker and two co ordinators. We emailed a sample of staff to gain their experience of the service. Eight staff provided feedback.
We reviewed two people's care records as well as other records relating to the running of the service, such as medicine records, complaints and training records. We emailed a sample of external healthcare professionals, one provided feedback.
Updated
1 May 2020
About the service
Real life Options - Hartlepool is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living with learning disabilities in supported living arrangements. At the time of our inspection 21 people received personal care.
The care service had 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’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received support from caring and committed staff. Staff knew what was important to people, respected their choices and promoted their independence. People were supported by a consistent, suitably trained and skilled staff team.
Individual and environmental risks had been identified and mitigated. The provider had systems to learn from a range of information, analysing the information for trends to enable them to reduce future occurrences.
The provider followed safe recruitment processes to ensure suitable staff were employed. Training was designed around people’s specific needs. The service supported staff with regular supervisions and appraisals. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to protecting people from the risk of harm. People received their medicine as prescribed.
People had access to health care professionals when required and supported with any ongoing care and support needs. Information throughout the service was available in an appropriate format for people to understand the care and support they received. People were supported to take part in activities and encouraged to develop new interests.
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 told us they were happy and appeared comfortable with their staff team. Staff knew people well and were knowledgeable about their backgrounds and care and support needs. The service had established partnerships with healthcare professionals to ensure people received joined up care. One healthcare professional told us the service was responsive to people’s care needs.
The registered manager had a strong oversight of the service. The provider had a range of quality assurance systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service. People, relatives and staff were regularly asked to provide feedback about the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 15 September 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.