Archived: Choice Support - Sutton and Merton

Updated 15 January 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 Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

This service provides care and support to people living in seven ‘supported living’ settings, 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.

The service had two managers registered with the CQC. 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 provider 5 days’ notice to enable them to ensure the premises were set up as safely as possible to accommodate an inspection. Inspection activity started on 7 December 2021 and ended on 21 December 2021. We visited two supported living settings during this period.

What we did before the inspection:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We reviewed statutory notifications submitted by the provider. Statutory notifications contain information providers are required to send to us about significant events that take place within services. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We were unable to gather verbal feedback from people using the service. Therefore, we carried out observations at two supported living settings. We spoke with two supported living managers, one of the registered manager's and four care support workers. We reviewed a range of records including people’s care records and medication records and records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection:

We contacted four relatives and three healthcare professionals about their experiences of the service. We reviewed additional documentation relating to the management of the service. We continued to speak with the two registered managers and sought clarification about the evidence gathered.

Updated 15 January 2022

About the service

Choice Support – Sutton and Merton provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings so that they can live as independently as possible. The service specialises in supporting people with learning disabilities and/or autism. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission (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. At the time of this inspection 43 people who used the service were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were safe and well looked after by staff. Staff had been trained to safeguard people from abuse and knew how to manage risks to people to keep them safe. There were enough staff to support people. Recruitment and criminal records checks had been undertaken on staff to make sure they were suitable to support people.

People’s homes and communal areas in the supported living settings were clean and tidy. Staff followed current hygiene practice to reduce the risk of infections. Visitors to the service were given information to help them reduce the risk of catching and spreading infection. The provider made sure any safety concerns about the supported living settings were dealt with promptly by the housing provider.

People were involved in planning their care. Their needs and preferences underpinned the support provided to them. Staff knew people well and understood how their needs and preferences should be met. They were provided with relevant training to help them meet people’s needs. Staff were supported by the provider to continuously improve their working practices to help people achieve positive outcomes.

Staff were kind and caring and respected people’s rights to privacy and to be treated with dignity. People were supported to be as independent as they could be with daily living tasks. They were supported to undertake activities and interests they were interested in and to maintain relationships with the people important to them. Relatives could visit with family members without unnecessary restrictions.

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.

Staff helped people to stay healthy and well. They supported people to eat and drink enough to meet their needs, to take their prescribed medicines and to manage their healthcare conditions. Recommendations from healthcare professionals were acted on so that people received the care and support they needed in relation to their healthcare needs.

Relatives and healthcare professionals spoke positively about the service and the outcomes experienced by people. They said the management team were responsive and communicated with them well about their family members. The provider had arrangements in place to make sure any accidents, incidents and complaints were investigated and people were kept involved and informed of the outcome.

The provider encouraged people and staff to have their say about how the service could improve. They used this feedback along with audits and checks and outcome from investigations to monitor, review and improve the quality and safety of the support provided.

The service worked proactively with other agencies and healthcare professionals. The management team acted on their recommendations to improve the quality and safety of the service for people.

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. People were involved in making decisions and supported to have as much choice and control as possible about how their care and support needs were planned and delivered. Support was tailored to their individual needs and preferences. Staff knew people well and how to support them to live their own individual and independent lifestyles at home and in the community. The provider ensured people’s rights were respected and promoted a culture where people were supported in the least restrictive way as possible.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 25/11/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted because services which are operational require an inspection at least after the first year following registration with us.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this at the inspection even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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.