The inspection took place on the 25 April 2017 and was announced. Forty eight hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is small and often people and staff could be out in the community during the day. We wanted to ensure that the people we needed to speak to would be available.

Sussex Oakleaf Housing Association Limited provides a range of short to longer term residential services across Sussex. These services offer accommodation and 24 hour support to individuals, male and female, from diverse backgrounds living with enduring mental health conditions and who may have other additional support needs. Oak House & Maple Lodge provides accommodation and support for up to 14 people who have experienced mental ill health. The service undertakes a recovery programme for people who have had mental ill health and support with improving their independence skills and recovery from the illness. On the day of the inspection 12 people were using the service.

The service has two properties. One being Oak House which is the main house where people live and Maple Lodge a self-contained property at the back of the main house. This is used for people when they are ready to become independent and move on from the service into the community.

At the last inspection on 29 April 2015 we found the service was not consistently effective. Staff had not received training and development on updating and increasing their skills. At this inspection we saw the registered manager had taken action to improve the service following our last inspection.

People said they felt safe at the service. One person told us “I feel very safe here, because all the staff are very supportive and approachable”. People remained protected from the risk of potential abuse because staff understood how to identify and report it.

Arrangements remained in place for the safe ordering, administration, storage and disposal of medicines. People were supported to get their medicine safely when they needed it. People were supported to maintain good health and had access to health care services.

Staff considered peoples capacity using the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) as per guidance. People’s capacity to make specific decisions had been assessed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The provider was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

The service had a communal kitchen for everyone to use. People were encouraged and supported to cook their own meals. People felt staff were skilled to meet the needs of people and provide effective care. One person told us “The care from all staff is very upbeat. They really help me with my confidence, as the encourage me to do stuff for myself and this gives me a purpose and gets me out”.

A recovery approach remained in use so that people were encouraged to take part in activities in the community and take responsibility for their own mental health and wellbeing. People’s individual needs were assessed and care plans were developed to identify what care and support they required. People were consulted about their care to ensure wishes and preferences were met. Staff worked with other healthcare professionals to obtain specialist advice about people’s care and treatment when required.

People remained encouraged to express their views and had completed surveys. Feedback received showed people were satisfied overall, and felt staff were friendly and helpful. People told us they felt listened to and any concerns or issues they raised were addressed. One person said “We usually deal with any complaint in the weekly house meeting. I have never had any reason to complain”.

Staff continued to feel fully supported by the registered manager to undertake their roles. Staff were given training updates, supervision and development opportunities. One member of staff told us “Yes we have lots of good

The inspection took place on the 29 April 2015 and was unannounced.

Oak House & Maple Lodge provides accommodation and support for adults who have experienced mental ill health. The service undertakes a recovery programme for people who have had mental ill health and support with improving their independence skills and recovery from the illness. The service began in April 2013 and can accommodate up to 14 people.

The service has two properties. One being Oak House which is the main house where people live and Maple Lodge a self contained property at the back of the main house. This is used for people when they are ready to become independent and move on from the service into the community.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

Staff felt fully supported by management to undertake their roles. Staff were not always given regular training updates and recorded supervisions. This meant staff had not been offered the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills and have recorded supervision with their manager. Staff had recently been offered to undertake a qualification in health and social care as part of on going support and development.

The experience of people was positive. People told us they felt safe living at the service and staff were kind. Staff supported people to live independently and helped people with living skills and self-care. We observed staff throughout the day who showed a great understanding about the people’s needs. They were encouraged and supported in daily activities such as going out and cooking their own food.

People’s needs were assessed and support plans were developed to identify what care and support they required. Staff worked with other healthcare professionals to obtain specialist advice in mental ill health to ensure people received the care and treatment they needed. People were supported to live independently by staff encouraging them to take responsibility for daily living including cooking, washing and accessing the community.

Staff told us how they worked together with people to support them and make sure they received the support they needed. Staff interactions were positive, staff spoke with people respectfully and gave them meaningful choices.

People’s needs were assessed and personalised, support plans were developed to identify what care and support they required. People were consulted about their support to ensure wishes and preferences were met.

A recovery approach was used so that people were encouraged to take part in activities in the community and take responsibility for their own mental health and wellbeing.

Resident and staff meetings regularly took place which provided an opportunity for staff and people to feedback on the quality of the service. Staff and people told us they liked regular meetings. Feedback was sought on a daily basis. The home had nine people using the service and this meant they could talk to the staff throughout the day and raise any concerns if needed.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines when they needed them. Any risks associated with medicines were assessed and managed in people’s best interests.

The registered manager considered peoples capacity using the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) as guidance. Staff observed the key principles in their day to day work checking with people that they were happy for them to undertake care tasks before they proceeded.

The registered manager made sure there were enough staff on duty at all times to meet people’s needs. Appropriate checks were carried out before new staff started working at the service.

People were aware of how to make a complaint and felt they would have no problem raising any issues. The manager responded to complaints in a timely manner with details of any action taken.

There were seven people living at the service on the day of our visit. We spoke with two people who used the service and three members of staff. Staff told us that the service focused on recovery and assisting people to improve their independence. The service began receiving people in April 2013.

One person we talked with told us “It’s fantastic here. I love being here.” Another person told us “I can’t fault the staff, they’re really really good. My key worker helped me find voluntary work, reminds me to do stuff and helps me with organising my finances.”

People told us that they were consulted on how their support was provided and that staff responded to any concerns or questions they had. Records seen showed that their needs had been assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual support needs. We found that people had been offered choices in their care and treatment, and people told us how staff had supported them in helping them achieve wellbeing and quality of life.

The service had arrangements in place to safeguard people from abuse or harm. Records showed that the service had acted to protect people when issues of concern had been identified.

There were adequate numbers of staff had been provided to meet the needs of people who used the service at the time of our inspection.

People were able to influence how the service was provided mainly through their one to one work with their key worker and the house meetings which took place once per two weeks. Records seen and discussion with staff and people showed that the service was able to learn from incidents which had taken place and implement improvements where needed.