About the service: Midshires Supported Living Service provides support to people living in their own homes at five different service locations. One service is designed to support people to transition in to their own homes in the community. The service supports older people and younger adults living with a physical disability, a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder.

People’s experience of using this service: People were positive and spoke highly about the care they received. We saw people being supported as individuals with their preferences, likes and dislikes being adhered to.

The services worked within the guidance of Registering the Right Support for supported living services. There was a passion to increase people’s independence and involvement in their local communities. Emphasis was placed on supporting people to plan and achieve their own goals.

People received personalised care from a caring and supportive staff and management team who knew them well. People were put at the centre of their care and could make choices about how and when they received support from the staff team.

People were safe from the risk of harm and abuse. People felt safe in all aspects of their support including accessing the community and being supported to take their medicines.

Staff recruitment procedures were thorough and included all necessary criminal record checks. The staff team was consistent and this had allowed them to build trusting relationships with people.

People’s needs, preferences, likes and dislikes were assessed prior to them using the service and were kept at the centre of support planning for people.

Staff were supported to remain competent and continue to improve in their job roles. Staff received training, supervision and competency observations to support them with this.

People received support from healthcare professionals. Staff worked well with these professionals to ensure that people received the support they needed.

People were positive about the management of the service and felt able to contribute with ideas about their care and support needs.

The management team were passionate about providing high quality person centred care.

Plans were in place to use feedback from people to improve the quality of the care they received more effectively.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 16/02/2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. During this inspection we found evidence continued to support the rating of good. More information is in the full report.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

This inspection took place on 16 & 17 February 2016.

This inspection was announced.

Mid Shires Supported Living Service is a supported living service for people with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people receiving support across a number of sites.

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 felt safe. Staff were aware of what they considered to be abuse and understood how to report this.

Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and were detailed in people’s support plans. Staff used these to assist people to be as independent as possible.

There were sufficient staff, with the correct skill mix, on duty to support people with their needs. Staff had been recruited using a robust recruitment process.

Medicines were stored, administered and handled safely.

Staff were knowledgeable about the needs of individual people they supported. People were supported to make choices around their care and daily lives.

Staff had attended a variety of training to keep their skills up to date and were supported with regular supervision by the registered manager.

There were policies and procedures in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff knew how to use them to protect people who were unable to make decisions for themselves.

People could make choices about their food and drink and were provided with support when required to prepare meals.

Each person had a ‘Health Passport’ and access to health care professionals to ensure they received appropriate care or treatment.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion, and knew people well.

People and their relatives were involved in making decisions and planning their care, and their views were listened to and acted upon.

People had the privacy they required and were treated with respect at all times.

People’s support plans were person centred and reflected how they wished to receive support.

Staff supported people to follow their interests and social activities.

There was an effective complaints procedure in place.

Regular meetings were held for staff to enable everyone to be involved in the development of the service.