Kazlum Support Limited provides personal care and support to people with a learning disability living in mid Devon and Exeter. Some people are living in their own homes and others are living in shared supported living houses. Most people, that Kazlum provide support to, do not receive personal care; they require support with daily activities, including some prompting to carry out their own personal care. At the time of inspection, three people did receive personal care. The provider also runs day services which some people receiving support from them attend. The Care Quality Commission do not regulate day care services.

At the last inspection completed in August 2015 and Sept, the service was rated Good, although we found a breach of Regulation 11 of the Health and Social Care Act (2008) Regulations 2014. This was because the service was not operating within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

At this inspection, we found the service had addressed this and was now meeting all the regulations.

This announced inspection took place on 27 and 28 September 2017. The provider was given short notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. We found the service was good in all domains.

Why the service was rated as good.

People looked calm and relaxed with staff who understood their needs and ways of communicating. Staff interacted positively with people and helped them engage in activities which they enjoyed and were meaningful to them.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff had been recruited safely and were well trained and supported to do their job effectively. The management team valued staffs’ experience and ideas. Staff were encouraged to continue on-going learning through national qualifications and training to meet individual’s needs.

Care records were complete and up-to-date. They provided detailed information about people’s risks, needs and preferences. They also described how these should be met in care plans. Care plans were reviewed regularly and staff were able to describe how they worked with them. The person and their family were involved in developing the care plans. Medicines were stored, administered and recorded safely.

People’s relatives were confident and complimentary about the care provided. They said their views would be listened to and actioned if they had concerns or complaints, although they had not had to make one.

The service was well led by a registered manager/provider who had outlined the aims and objectives of the organisation. This included providing care which put the person at the centre, involved family and worked in a culture of openness and transparency. Staff felt they worked well as a team and described it as caring.

This inspection took place on 17, 19 and 24 August and 1 September 2015 and was announced. The provider was given short notice because the location registered with the Care Quality Commission is an office from which the provider runs a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Kazlum Support Limited provides personal care and support to people living alone or with family in their own homes in Exeter, Newton Abbott and the surrounding area in Devon. Kazlum support also supported people living in two supported living houses in Exeter, one of which had five people living in it and the other which had six people living in it. Supported living is defined as Where people live in their own home and receive care and/or support in order to promote their independence. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people receiving a service. The personal care provided to people varied from 24 hour one-to-one support for some people to a set number of hours per week for others.

When we visited 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.

People were supported to be as independent as possible. However where restrictions were placed on people to ensure their safety, the provider had not undertaken mental capacity assessments for such restrictions or had a best interest meeting to consider what needed to be done, which might include applying for an authorisation to the Court of Protection.

Although there were some concerns about the current medicine administration record system, there was evidence that this was being replaced with an electronic system which would address the shortfalls. The new system was part of a computerised care record which both staff and people would be able to use. The new system also allowed managers to generate reports of activity and undertake audits of care records in a timely way.

There was a sense of ‘family’ among the people, staff and managers at Kazlum Support Limited. People and their families described the care they received as “very good” and said they felt safe with the staff who worked with them. Throughout the inspection there was evidence of people enjoying the company of the staff, with lots of friendly interactions and gentle banter on both sides. Staff were respectful of people’s right to privacy and treated them with courtesy and kindness. People felt able to change their minds in terms of what they wanted to do and were supported by staff and managers to do this. People were able to use their one to one hours each week flexibly to suit their chosen activities. Staff accompanied people on holidays of their choice in the UK and abroad. Staff said they would work different hours at times to the ones they were scheduled for to support people to do what they wanted.

People were supported to undertake activities of their choice by staff who were recruited safely. Staff underwent an induction supported by regular supervision and feedback. Staff also undertook training in a number of courses to support them to work effectively.

There were systems in place to gather feedback from people, their families, staff and health and social care professionals. There was also evidence that where a concern was identified, actions were taken to address the concern.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.