About the service: Hanover Supported Living is a group of five supported living services in the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow. They provide care and support to adults with learning disabilities and mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

The service is managed by New Horizon Care Home Ltd, a private organisation who also runs a residential care home in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

People’s experience of using this service:

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and mental health needs using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support. People's care was personalised and the support from staff enabled people to make choices about their lives and how their needs should be met. People were involved in planning their own care and regularly reviewing this. The provider supported people to reflect on their own needs and what had worked well, and not so well, for them, so that care plans could be adapted and changed to reflect this.

Whilst we found that people were being safely cared for, some of the practices around medicines management meant that there was a risk that things might go wrong. We discussed these with the registered manager and they agreed to make changes to ensure that these practices were improved and people's medicines were managed safely.

People using the service felt safe. They liked the staff who supported them and thought they were kind and caring. People were supported to learn independent living skills and take part in a range of different activities. They made choices about how they spent their time and what they ate.

The staff worked closely with other healthcare professionals to make sure people's healthcare needs were assessed, monitored and met. Some people had additional mental health needs. The staff had a good understanding of these.

The staff were happy working at the service. They felt supported and told us they had regular team and individual meetings with the registered manager and nominated individual. They had access to training at the service, and externally, and found this useful.

The provider had systems for monitoring the quality of the service, obtaining feedback from stakeholders and making improvements where needed. They investigated and responded to accidents, incidents and complaints. There was evidence of regular audits and changes made as a result of feedback from people using the service and others.

Rating at last inspection: The service was rated Good at our last inspection which took place on 31 October 2016 (Published 15 November 2016).

Why we inspected: We inspected the service as part of our scheduled plan of inspections based on the last rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service and carry out another inspection in line with our planned schedule of inspections, or sooner if needed.

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

Hanover supported living service provides support for up to four people living with mental health needs and mild learning disabilities. When we carried out this inspection, four people were using the service.

This inspection took place on 31 October and 3rd November 2016. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the location is a small supported living service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to assist with the inspection.

People had tenancy agreements and rented their accommodation. The care and housing provider were two separate organisations. The support people received was dependant on their individual needs. The service was staffed 24 hours a day.

This was Hanover supported living service’s first inspection at this location since registering in 2015.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Feedback from people using the service, their relatives and professionals was positive. Staff were also complimentary about the support they received from the registered manager.

People’s individual needs and risks had been identified so that staff were accurately informed about how to support people safely.

People using the service told us they felt safe and we saw there were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm.

People had access to the health care services they needed and were encouraged and supported to seek medical treatment where needed.

There were enough staff to meet people’s care and support needs and the provider carried out checks on staff before they worked with people using the service.

The provider had systems in place to gather the views of people using the service and others.

The provider had a policy and procedures for people using the service and others about how to make a complaint.

People's individuality and diversity was taken into account. People were supported to access their local community and take part in social and recreational activities of their choice. People were supported to build and maintain social relationships so they led fulfilling lives.

Arrangements were in place for the management of medicines and staff had been trained and assessed as competent in medicines administration.

Staff had access to the training and support they needed.

The Mental Capacity Act (2005) had been appropriately applied and the best interest decision making process followed to ensure decisions about people's care were made collectively by more than one person.

The provider had systems to monitor the quality of the service that people received and to make improvements.