Cambridgeshire County Council - 8b Wagstaff Close is a supported living service. At the time of our inspection the staff provided personal care and support to two people who had learning and physical disabilities. The people lived together in one house and staff support was provided for 24 hours each day. Care was commissioned and provided by the local authority.

At our last inspection, on 11 February 2015, the service was rated as good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

People were cared for by staff who provided care and support that ensured people's safety and welfare and took into account each person’s individual preferences. People were supported to manage their medicines safely. People were cared for by staff who had been recruited and employed only after appropriate checks had been completed.

There were sufficient staff available safely meet people’s needs and support them with a variety of activities. Staff were sufficiently skilled, experienced and supported to enable them to meet people's needs effectively.

People were effectively supported with decision making and supported to have as much choice and control of their lives as possible. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet with suitable food and fluid. People were supported to access healthcare when they required it.

People received care and support from staff who were caring, respectful and friendly. Staff treated people with respect and dignity. Staff knew the people they supported well, and understood, and met, their individual preferences and support needs. People’s care plans provided staff with sufficient guidance to provide consistent care to each person.

Staff supported people to maintain relationships that were important to them. People were encouraged to access the community and develop individual interests and hobbies. Staff supported people to maintain existing, relationships that were important to them.

The provider continued to have a robust complaints procedure in place. The service was well managed. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service people received.

Cambridgeshire County Council - 8b Wagstaff Close is a supported living service. At the time of our inspection the staff provided personal care and support to three people who had learning, and in some cases, physical disabilities. The people lived together in one house and staff support was provided for 24 hours each day. Care was commissioned and provided by the local authority.

This announced inspection took place on 11 February 2015. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because the registered manager is sometimes out of the office at other services that they manage. We needed to be sure they would be present for the inspection. At our previous inspection on 17 December 2013 we found the provider was meeting all the regulations we looked at.

People received care and support that met their assessed needs and took into account each person’s individual preferences. There were systems in place to ensure people’s safety was effectively managed. Care records were detailed and provided staff with sufficient guidance to provide consistent care and support to each person. This helped staff to ensure people’s needs were met and their independence maintained. People were encouraged to access the community and develop and or maintain interests and hobbies. Staff supported people to build new, and maintain existing, relationships that were important to them.

People were supported to express their views and be as independent as possible. People’s rights to make decisions about their care and support were respected.

The CQC monitors the operations of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care services. We found that people’s rights were being protected because DoLS applications were in progress and were being submitted to the authorising body.

People received care and support from staff who were kind, compassionate, caring and respectful. Staff members were well trained and well supported by their managers. Staff knew the people they supported well, and understood, and met, their individual preferences and support needs. The provider’s recruitment process was robust and included obtaining satisfactory pre-employment checks. This ensured that only suitable staff were employed by the provider. There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

We found the service was well managed. People receiving a service and those involved with their care were encouraged to share their views about the quality of the service provided and these were acted on. We found there were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service people received.

People that we met during our inspection on 17 December 2013 were not able to tell us about the care and support they received whilst living in the home, due to their complex needs. However, observations made during our visit showed that people were satisfied and happy with the care and the attention they received from care staff.

Care and support was being regularly reviewed to ensure that peoples’ needs were being met. There was evidence of people’s involvement in the planning of their care and support.

Staff were trained in the safe administration of medication. Records of administration were accurately completed.

Staff had received regular supervision. Staff training arrangements were in place that ensured staff delivered safe care and support to people.

Quality assurance procedures were in place to monitor the running of the service and people using the service were able to raise any issues and concerns with the management team.

During our inspection, in September 2012, we found that improvements were needed and made compliance actions regarding; the provision of healthcare guidelines for people using the service, appropriate levels of staffing to meet peoples care and support needs, regular supervision sessions for staff and the accurate recording regarding the staff roster and the administration of medication. The provider sent us an ‘Action plan’ in October 2012 stating how they would be making improvements regarding the compliance actions that were made.

We carried out this inspection, on 14 March 2013, to check if the improvements had been made and the provider was compliant with the regulations. During this inspection, we spent time at the service talking with the manager, speaking with staff and looking at records to check compliance.

During our visit we spoke to two of the three people being provided with support who communicated through reduced speech and a range of hand signs and facial expressions. Two people told us that they were satisfied with their care and support were happy with the member of staff who was supporting them when during our visit.

People were relaxed and confident and were able to inform staff what support they preferred and when they required this support. We observed that people were treated with respect by staff and were empowered by the sensitive and practical approach that staff offered.