Supported Living UK

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

People received safe care and support from staff who understood their needs and followed healthcare guidance from professionals. Staff knew how to safely support people around their individual risks and how to protect people from abuse and neglect. Staff supported people to safely take risks which enabled them to have a greater level of independence. Staff received appropriate training and were recruited safely. The provider ensured there were enough well-trained staff to provide individualised support to people in a timely and safe way.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Learning culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Safe systems, pathways and transitions during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities to keep people safe. They knew how to recognise and report any concerns and told us action would be taken to protect people. Staff told us, “[Abuse] can be verbal, physical, emotional, physical. I have not witnessed any of this here. I would report to line manager and record. This will then go to safeguarding team” and “I would report it to my line manager. I know where I can access the information and the contact details of the agency that deals with safeguarding.”

The provider had clear systems and processes in place to safeguard people and to support staff to raise any concerns. Staff received appropriate safeguarding training. There were clear safeguarding and whistleblowing policies in place. All incidents and accidents were reported, recorded and reviewed by the management. The management team took action to protect people and adjusted their support when needed. They also worked with the local authority to investigate any concerns and monitored the level of concerns and any trends. There were no ongoing safeguarding enquiries at the time of this assessment.

Staff supported people well when they became distressed, and we saw this helped people to re-engage with their peers and staff in a safe way. Staff responded to people in a patient, calm and friendly manner. Staff discussed any issues with people in a fun, but respectful and age-appropriate way. Safeguarding information was displayed in the communal areas and in the staff room.

People were protected from the risk of abuse and neglect and felt safe in the service. One person told us, “Staff are very nice and very helpful. (If I had any concerns), I would speak to the manager.” A relative commented, “I think [staff] are all very good with [person], their interaction is fantastic. They are all very kind. [Person] is safe here, I am never worried, I don’t walk out with any doubts.”

People’s relatives told us people were supported in a safe way and involved in managing their individual risks. Relatives commented, “[Staff] monitor [person’s] health needs closely and react quickly if anything is needed” and “[Staff] understand [person’s] needs, they know them really well.”

Staff knew how to support people to protect them from avoidable harm and so they remained safe and well. At the same time, staff encouraged and supported people to take positive risks and to build their independence and to improve their overall quality of life. Staff explained, “We do a risk assessment which involves other people like family and medical support. When we plan to take someone out to local shops, this is all risk assessed. Going out to get a haircut is carefully planned”, “We work in partnership with people, even though there can be a risk involved, we always risk assess to enable them to do as much as they want and be safe at the same time” and “When a person wants to cook, we make sure they do as much as possible for themselves by minimising risks included in their risk assessment.”

Staff supported people safely in line with their individual risk assessments and support plans. Staff applied safe and person-centred methods of support when people got distressed.

People had individual support plans and risk assessments in place. These were detailed and included up to date guidance for staff on how to support people safely and with their individual goals. Staff completed risk assessments around people’s day-to-day, physical and mental health needs and health conditions. People had health action plans in place.

We did not look at Safe environments during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

The provider ensured staff were safely recruited, well-trained and supported in their roles. The management team always ensured there were appropriate staffing levels in the service. People received their one-to-one support as per their individual needs and were involved in staff recruitment processes. Staff received appropriate specialist training to be able to meet people’s needs related to their specific health needs and to effectively support people with learning disability and autistic people.

Staff received training, support, and supervision they needed to be able to effectively support people. There were enough staff to support people in a timely way as per their individual needs. Staff told us, “I believe there are enough staff, we have adjusted the levels just recently when a new person moved in. I do feel there is enough time to engage with people”, “We only use fulltime permanent staff. This provides consistency and better engagement with people because staff get to know [people] they support better”, “Training is good, we have lots of face to face and on-line. Today we are doing epilepsy training with a competency assessment so that we can support one person just in case they have a seizure”, “Induction (training) was good, it covered areas that I needed to do my job and gave me confidence” and “I have supervision regularly with [registered manager]. It allows me to express myself in how I feel about my job. I discuss things I think will help me improve, and I have been given the opportunity to do additional training for my development.”

People and their relatives told us there were enough competent staff to provide them with the support they required. One person said, “There is always enough staff.” Relatives told us, “As far as I know, there is safe staffing throughout the week”, “I think [person] gets their one-to-one [support] hours” and “I think staff are well trained.”

People were supported as per their individual needs. Staff were available to accompany people to go out, to stay safe or to respond to their needs in a timely way. New staff were trained by observing more experienced staff supporting people. Staff received training in epilepsy and were competency assessed by a specialist nurse on the day of the site visit.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.