The inspection took place on 1, 2 and 5 June 2017 and was announced. We contacted the service 24 hours before the inspection to ensure the manager would be in the office. The service was last inspected in August 2014, where no concerns were identified and it received a rating of Good.

LDC Supported Living is registered to provide personal care to people with learning disabilities, living in their own homes. Some people lived in their own flats or houses and others in shared accommodation, such as two/three bedroom houses, where they shared communal areas with other people. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 28 people across Dover, Ashford and Folkestone.

The service had a registered manager who was available on the days of the inspection. 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 received positive feedback about LDC from people, relatives and professionals. We heard about good standards of care and support which improved people’s wellbeing and the quality of people's lives. We observed warm, caring attitudes from staff and a drive to provide a quality service for people.

People trusted staff and felt safe whilst being supported by them. Staff had received training in how to safeguard people. They knew what signs to look out for which would cause concern and how to report them so the appropriate action could be taken to help keep them safe.

A system to recruit new staff was in place. This was to make sure that the staff employed to support people were fit to do so. People's needs were met promptly and effectively by staff who knew people and their preferences very well. Staff had completed comprehensive induction training when they first started to work at the service. Staff were supported during their induction, monitored and assessed to check that they had attained the right skills and knowledge to be able to care for, support and meet people’s needs. Management staff carried out routine checks of staff knowledge and capability.

Staff received a comprehensive programme of training and were supported to develop their skills and knowledge. The provider encouraged progression and supported staff to attain qualifications. There were staff meetings, so staff could discuss any issues and share new ideas with their colleagues, to improve people’s care and support.

Staff had undertaken training in The Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The MCA provides the legal framework to assess people’s capacity to make certain decisions, at a certain time. When people are assessed as not having the capacity to make a decision, a best interest decision is made involving people who know the person well and other professionals, where relevant.

The registered manager and management team provided clear leadership to the staff and led by example. Staff were motivated and felt well supported by management and the provider. Staff felt that the provider was committed to their wellbeing and were committed to the values of LDC. Staff treated people as individuals and each person received person centred support. Staff told us the registered manager and management team were very approachable and they were positive about their style of management.

Medicines were stored and administered safely. People were supported in safe environments and possible risks to people had been identified and were managed to keep people as safe as possible whilst enabling people to live as independent a life as possible. People's health was monitored and professional advice sought quickly and efficiently as needed. Staff worked collaboratively with health professionals, especially from the local community teams, forming working relationships which had led to goo

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.

We inspected LDC Supporting Ltd on 13 August 2014. This was an announced inspection which meant the service was informed 48 hours before the inspection was due to take place. This is to ensure that the registered manager would be in the office and, if they were usually on the rota to work with people using the service, that they could arrange alternative cover for their visits. The inspection was carried out by one Adult Social Care inspector.

At our last inspection in December 2013 we had not identified any concerns with the service.

The registered manager, management team and office staff were all involved in the inspection. . They worked as a team to make sure we had the information we requested. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

LDC Supported Living is registered to provide personal care to people with learning disabilities, living in their own homes. Some people lived in one bedroom flats and others in shared accommodation, such as two/three bedroom houses, where they shared communal areas with other people. Each person had a tenancy agreement and rented their accommodation.

People received support in line with their assessed personal care needs. The support hours varied from a few hours per day/week or 24 hour support. With this support people were able to live in their own homes as independently as possible.

People told us that they were very happy with the service being provided. Staff knew people’s individual needs and how to meet them. We saw that there were good relationships between people using the service, the management and staff. People and their families were involved in developing support plans, and we saw people make decisions about their care and support. We observed and people told us that staff encouraged and promoted their independence.

We found staff were up to date with current guidance to support people to make decisions. Any restrictions placed on them was done in their best interest, using appropriate safeguards. We saw that advocacy services had been used to support people with their decisions and referrals were made to health care professionals to make sure people’s decisions would be made in their best interests. People were being supported to maintain relationships with relatives, friends and others within the community. They participated in a range of activities and were being supported to develop new interests and have a meaningful social life.

We found that staff were caring and treated people with dignity and respect. People said that the staff were kind and polite. People who lived in individual accommodation and received various hours of support told us that that the staff were reliable and arrived on time for their calls. We found that people who had chosen to share their home with one or two other people received their care and support from a team of consistent staff who knew their routines well.

Staff received an induction, core training and specialist training, so they had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. They fully understood their roles and responsibilities as well as the values of the service. People using the service were encouraged to be involved in the recruitment of staff and were supported by the management team to be part of the selection panel for new staff.

The culture within the service was personalised and open. There was a clear management structure in place and staff told us they were all part of the team. They said they felt comfortable talking to the managers about their concerns and ideas for improvements. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service being provided. The service was innovative and consistently looked at new ways of working to continuously improve the service.

At the time of our inspection, there were 15 people who were receiving personal care and supported by the service. We spoke with three people who used the service and they were positive about the support they received.

The people we spoke with told us about the support they needed from staff. They said they would go to staff if they had any problems, concerns or worries. They told us that the staff supported them well. One person said “they all need medals as a special award”. We saw that care records included people's views and the choices they had made about their individual support plans. The staff we spoke with were aware of people's preferences and individual support needs.

We found that staff were supported by the provider to effectively meet the needs of people who used the service. A member of staff told us that they felt “well supported and valued”.

We found that the provider had undertaken surveys and collated feedback from people’s representatives and health care professionals who supported people who used the service. We saw that some of the comments included “the management team always go the extra mile to find solutions to problems” and “excellent communication with health care professionals”.

We found that the service kept records safely and stored them appropriately, to ensure people’s details and information was protected.

During our visit we saw that staff treated people with dignity and respect. We saw that people who used the service interacted well with staff and were encouraged to express their views and opinions which were valued.

People who used the service that we spoke to were positive about the staff who supported them and comments included, “he's a good driver, like him" and "all good get on well with staff."

We saw how staff supported people to understand their care plans by making them as relevant to the individual as possible by personalising them with the use of colour, personal stories, history of events and photographs. We saw that these were reviewed regularly with the person who used the service to ensure that people got the right support.

In order to protect the people who used the service, we saw that the provider carried out a rigorous staff recruitment process which included relevant criminal record checks. We saw that people who used the service participated in the providers interview process and had a say in who should be appointed.

We saw that staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and preferences, were observed to treat people as individuals and care was person centred with the focus on delivering positive outcomes for people in a personalised way.

There were processes in place to monitor the quality of service being provided and we saw that people were involved through questionnaires, reviews and one to one discussions.