This inspection took place on 11 and 13 December 2018. The first day of inspection was unannounced.

This was our first inspection of the service under its new registration.

Mencap Respite Service Liverpool is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Mencap Respite Service Liverpool is situated in a residential area of Belle Vale in Liverpool, with nearby shops and public transport. The service is based in a terrace of houses and consists of separate bedrooms and shared bathrooms over two floors. The service provides temporary accommodation for up to five people at the same time. People come and stay for short periods of time, ranging from a few days to several weeks.

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 autism using the service, particularly those staying for longer periods of time, were supported to live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People’s needs within the service varied and usually impacted upon the length of time that they were at the service. The staff team showed us good examples of how they adapted their support to people based on individual needs.

There was a service manager in post and a registered manager oversaw the service. 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.

When we inspected, staff, people using the service and their relatives were enthusiastic about sharing with us how highly they thought of the service. It was clear from our conversations that the service manager and their team were passionate about creating a caring, person-centred service that involved people and their relatives.

We found that there were some areas in which the service needed to improve, which mainly related to the safety of the service. In other aspects, we found and heard of very good examples of the way in which the service cared for and supported people and their relatives.

The service’s management and storage of medicines, particularly controlled drugs, needed to be improved , to ensure people and their medicines were kept safe.

We made a recommendation regarding this.

People had risk assessments and care plans in place to guide staff. We found that at times information about people’s risks and how the service had learned from incidents needed to be clearer.

We discussed with managers how some service safety aspects may benefit from review , such as the use of window restrictors.

Staff were aware of safeguarding responsibilities and had confidence in managers to address any concerns. Managers recorded and investigated concerns appropriately.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and they had been recruited appropriately.

The service was clean and bright and all relatives commented on this positively.

The service was working with the local authority to review their practice of following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We saw good examples of how people’s rights regarding decision-making were supported.

Staff felt well supported. Staff had access to regular training and supervision. We considered with managers that some further specialist training would be useful.

The service was adaptable to people’s needs. We considered with managers how some specialist considerations may help to give a more rounded assessment of people’s requirements.

The service showed us good examples