This unannounced comprehensive inspection was carried out on 27 and 28 February 2018. This was our first inspection of the service since it had registered with CQC.

Birkenhead Project provides care and support to 24 people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live in their own home 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 is provided by Wirral Independent Living Services Ltd (WILS), who also run another supported living service from its head office in the Wallasey area of the Wirral. WILS aim to provide specialist support services to individuals who may have a range of complex needs, which may include a severe mental illness, learning disability, physical disability, alcohol dependency, substance misuse or homelessness.

The service had a registered manager, who had worked for the organisation for many years. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During this inspection we found that the service was performing well in most areas. However, the service was not keeping appropriate records of the medication that people had been supported to take. Staff recorded that they had supported the person with their medication in the daily records but they did not specifically record each medication that they had supported the person to take. This was not in line with the relevant national guidance on managing people’s medicines in the community. We also saw that one person who had a medicines administration record (MAR) in place had two gaps in their records which had not been identified and investigated.

Staff, who had appropriate training and experience, provided people with appropriate support with their medication. The staff we spoke with told us that they were confident supporting people with their medication and assisted people to take the right medication at the right times. The staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people’s medication needs and people told us that the staff were very helpful with this.

We saw that people’s care plans were person-centred and provided staff with the information they needed to meet people’s needs. They also contained relevant risk assessments, which were reviewed regularly and gave staff the information needed to safely manage these risks.

The service had systems in place to protect people from abuse and staff demonstrated a good understanding of this when we spoke with them. They were able to demonstrate the actions they would take in the event of a person being at risk of harm. Records showed that safeguarding concerns were promptly and effectively managed by staff with oversight from the registered manager. However, we had not always been notified of safeguarding concerns as we should have been.

Staff were safely recruited and were supported with a thorough induction process. Criminal records checks, known as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) records, were carried out. We also saw that official identification, such as a passport or driving licence and verified references from the most recent employers were also kept in staff files.

Staff training records were well-maintained and up-to-date and there was a clear system to document and plan staff training. We saw that all staff had received training relevant to their roles and the staff we spoke with gave positive feedback about training provided at the service.

Staff had received regular supervisions and appraisals with senior staff. All staff told us that they felt well-supported working for the service and they received an