Background to this inspection
Updated
10 July 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
One inspector visited the service and an Expert by Experience made calls to family members to gain their feedback. 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 is a supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own home.
There was no registered manager at the service when we visited. A new manager had been recruited and started work on 7 June 2021. The provider’s peripatetic manager was the ‘acting manager’ at the service, with the support of the local operations director. Currently, the provider was legally responsible for how the service was 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 it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the acting manager would be available to support the inspection process. The inspection was carried out between 2 June 2021 and 9 June 2021. We visited the office location on 3 June 2021.
What we did before the 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. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
In preparation for the inspection, we reviewed all the information we held about the service such as our contacts with them and notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, we requested a range of documents prior to the inspection such as policies, procedures, information about staff and quality monitoring information. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
The three people who used the service did not wish to share their experience of the service with us during this inspection. We therefore spoke with two family members to gain their views. We looked at two people's care plans and risk assessments. We spoke with the acting manager and local operations director and with two care staff. We also reviewed three staff recruitment, induction and supervision records.
Updated
10 July 2021
Priory Supported Living South Peninsula is a supported living service which provides personal care to people with a learning disability and autistic people living in their own homes.
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. When we visited, the agency supported three people with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s relatives gave us positive feedback about the service. They said staff were caring, compassionate and treated people with dignity and respect. One relative said, “I just feel very positive, very impressed with it [the service]. The care team are so efficient.”
People were safe with the staff who supported them. Staff understood the signs of abuse and felt confident any safeguarding concerns reported were listened to and responded to.
People received their prescribed medicines safely and on time. People's risk assessments and care plans provided staff with detailed, up to date information about how to safely care for each person. Risk was balanced with people’s individual rights and responsibilities.
We were assured the service was following safe infection prevention and control procedures to keep people safe with regard to the current COVID 19 pandemic. The service had monitoring arrangements to ensure all aspects of infection control followed best practice guidance.
People received safe care because staff recruitment, training, supervision and competency checks ensured all staff had the necessary qualifications, skills and experience and were of the right character to support vulnerable people.
The service was going through a significant period of management change. Quality monitoring systems were being constantly reviewed and improved to ensure the safety and quality of the service. An action plan was in place to ensure necessary improvements were being made.
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 underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
People were at the centre of their service; people chose where they lived and who they lived with. They had control over their own lives. People's care was planned with them and with those close to them, such as their family members and was reviewed regularly. People were supported to live independently in their own homes by a small team of staff. People's human rights were respected and they were encouraged and supported to make their own decisions and to take risks.
Right support:
• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and
independence
Right care:
• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human
rights
Right culture:
• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people
using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives
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 (report published 8 February 2020).
Why we inspected
We received several notifications from the provider that one person may be placing themselves and others at risk of harm. We had also been notified the last registered manager had left the service and they had de-registered with us on 27 April 2021. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the ‘Safe’ key question. We look at this in all 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 effectively.
The overall rating for the service has not changed. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Priory Supported Living South Peninsula on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.