Curzon Care is a small domiciliary care and supported living service providing support to people with learning disabilities in the Morecambe and Heysham district. At the time of our inspection, the service was providing support to 30 people.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People’s care and support had been planned with them or, where appropriate, others acting on their behalf. They had been consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered.

The service had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report unsafe care or abusive practices.

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.

Staffing levels were sufficient in order to provide support which met people’s needs. Staffing was organised so people received support from a consistent set of staff.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care and support. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care and support provided.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. They had skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and social needs.

People were supported to have access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs had been met. People told us staff acted quickly if they were unwell, to seek professional advice.

People told us staff were caring towards them. They told us staff who supported them treated them with respect and dignity. Staff we spoke with understood the importance of high standards of care to give people meaningful lives.

The service had a complaints procedure which was available to people who used the service and their relatives. The people we spoke with told us they were happy with the service and had no complaints.

The service used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits, daily communication and satisfaction surveys to seek people’s views about the service provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We spoke to five people who used the service and they told us their care preferences and choices had been discussed with them prior to the service starting and that this had been reviewed periodically. We also found evidence of this within people's support plans.

People who used the service told us they were happy with the support they received and said they felt safe. One person told us, "We are one big happy family here, we are a close knit group. I am very happy". Another person told us, "I suffer from epilepsy, the staff here have been fantastic, without them I'd be stuck. They help me to take my medication and work out when I need to take it".

We found evidence that there was an effective recruitment process in place and found policies to back the process up.

People knew how to comment on the service they received and felt comfortable raising any concerns if they felt this necessary. There were adequate quality monitoring tools in place to measure the effectiveness of the service.

We spoke to 4 people who use the service. All of them said they had been given information about the service that helped them understand the kind of services available to them. They all believed they were very much involved in the decision making processes relating to the care and support they received. The people we spoke to believed they were receiving good standards of care based on their own needs. The people we spoke to thought they were keep safe by the service, and felt safe using the service. The people we spoke to believed the staff who worked with them were very caring and good at their job. The people we spoke to thought the manager and staff who ran the service were good at keeping them informed of developments, and were interested in their care and support arrangements. If they had issues about the service, the people we spoke felt happy to approaching the management team with a view to raising their concerns.been given information about the service that helped them understand the kind of services available to them. They all believed they were very much involved in the decision making processes relating to the care and support they recieved.

This announced inspection took place on 25 & 26 November 2015.

Curzon Care is a small domiciliary care service providing support to people with learning disabilities in the Morecambe and Heysham district. 24 people were being supported by the organisation on the date of inspection.

The service was last inspected on 11 November 2013 and was found to be meeting all the assessed standards.

There was 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.

People who used the service and their relatives spoke highly about the way in which the organisation was organised and managed. People described their staff team as reliable and voiced no concerns in the way in which staffing was deployed.

Staff were aware of types of abuse and how to report any concerns. The registered provider had appropriate systems in place to support staff that had any safeguarding concerns. Staff were confident any concerns relayed to management would be dealt with effectively.

When people required support with their medicines, the registered provider had suitable arrangements in place. Medicines were safely stored and appropriate arrangements for administering them were in place. People who had capacity and could manage their own medicines were encouraged to do so.

Appropriate systems were in place to address and manage the risks associated with the carrying out of the regulated activity. Staff told us they were fully briefed about how to manage risks prior to working with a person.

The registered provider understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions.

Health care needs were met in a timely manner. People were encouraged to participate in health promotion initiatives as a means to maintain and promote health.

Staff told us they were fully supported within their role. The registered manager had systems in place to ensure all staff were fully supported within their induction and did not work alone until they felt comfortable and confident to do so. The registered provider also provided some training to staff following their induction to ensure they were equipped with the necessary skills to carry out their role.

Relatives and people who used the service told us the registered provider met people’s dietary needs. Staff supported people to cook nutritious meals. Where people were required to lose weight staff supported them with healthy cooking and also supported people to undertake exercise and attend weight loss groups.

Support was organised to meet people’s needs. Rotas were developed in conjunction with the people being supported to ensure their support time was appropriate to them. When staff were working in people’s own homes they were mindful of respecting privacy.

People who used the service told us they were encouraged to live active lives and participate as valued members of their community. People were supported to attend various community groups according to their preferred wishes and hobbies. There was an emphasis placed upon improving people’s quality of life and increasing social networks.

Care was provided in a person centred way. People were involved in their own care planning and the development of their service. People were confident they could discuss their care with the registered manager and if they were unhappy with care provided they could change their service.

Concerns were dealt with in a timely manner and this prevented any concern from escalating into a complaint. People who used the service were aware of their rights to complain and who to complain to. People who had complained previously praised the ways in which the manager addressed the complaint and their commitment to making improvements.