St Paul's House provides a supported living service for up to six people with learning disabilities in two adjacent terraced houses in Huddersfield. There were three people using the service at the time of our inspection, with two people living in one house and another person living in the house next door. The service was previously run as a residential care home and this was the first inspection since the transition to a supported living service. We found no breaches in Regulations during this inspection.

This inspection took place on 13 September 2016 and was announced. A registered manager was 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. The registered manager was present during our inspection and assisted us with our enquiries. We were also supported during the inspection by a service manager who was in daily contact with the service. The registered manager also managed other services in the organisation and having set up this service, planned to deregister as the manager and for the service manager to take on this role.

We looked at the management of medicines and found that there were safe procedures in place for the administration of medicines. Where people self- administered their own medicine, appropriate assessments were in place. Medicines were stored securely and there were regular audits carried out which included checking stock balances and medicine administration records [MAR's] to ensure there were no gaps in records and that medicines had been given as prescribed.

A safeguarding policy and procedure was in place, and staff had received training in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults. We spoke with staff who were aware of procedures to follow in the event of concerns and a flow chart was displayed which outlined clearly the action staff should take when alerting concerns of a safeguarding nature. A whistleblowing policy was also in place. There had been no safeguarding issues.

Individual risks to people had been assessed. These included risks related to mobility, accessing the community, bathing, using the stairs, falls, and the use of bed rails. Although the provider was registered to provide personal care only, regular checks on the safety of the premises and equipment were also carried out. A record of accidents and incidents was maintained and these were reviewed by the registered manager to ensure appropriate action was taken and to monitor for any patterns or trends.

Safe staff recruitment practices were followed. Appropriate checks including obtaining two references and checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service [DBS] were carried out. The DBS checks lists of people to see if they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults. This helps employees to make safer recruitment decisions to help to protect people from abuse. The identity of staff was verified and new staff were interviewed twice; once in the office and once in the service involving people who lived there. There were suitable numbers of staff on duty on the day that we visited, including a sleep in member of staff. An intercom was in place for people in the house next door to contact the sleep in staff member if they needed them.

Staff received regular training in topics considered mandatory by the provider, such as moving and handling, health and safety, infection control, medicines awareness, first aid, mental capacity and deprivation of liberty. Additional training was provided related to the specific needs of people who used the service. A system of regular supervision and annual appraisal was in place. This meant that the development and support needs of staff were considered by the provider.

Capacity assessments had been carri