This inspection took place on 11 January 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service in people’s own homes and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to assist with the inspection.

Pelham Road is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection they were providing a supported living service to five people who lived together in a shared house. Supported living is where people live in their own home and receive care and/or support in order to promote their independence.

The service has 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received a safe service. Systems were in place to minimise risk and to ensure that people were supported as safely as possible. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people were safe and what to do if they had any concerns. They were confident that the registered manager would address any concerns.

People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was maintained. They were supported by a small, caring and consistent staff team who knew them well. One person told us, “The staff are nice to me.”

Systems were in place to ensure that people received their prescribed medicines safely. Medicines were administered by staff who were trained and assessed as being competent to do this.

Staff received the support and training they needed to give them the necessary skills and knowledge to meet people’s assessed needs, preferences and choices and to provide an effective and responsive service.

People were protected by the provider’s recruitment process which ensured that staff were suitable to work with people who need support.

People were encouraged to develop their skills and to be as independent as possible. They were supported to carry out daily living activities such as shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry.

People were actively involved in developing their care plans and in agreeing how they should be supported. Care records contained detailed information about people’s needs, wishes, likes, dislikes and preferences.

The registered manager and the provider monitored the quality of service provided to ensure that people received a safe and effective service that met their needs.

Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and to enable them to do be supported in a way that they wished.

People were encouraged to make choices and to have as much control as possible over what they did and how they were supported. Systems were in place to ensure that their human rights were protected.

Staff felt the registered manager was approachable and supportive and gave them clear guidance.

We spoke with three people who used the service and they told us they were very satisfied with the support they received from the provider. The people we spoke with told us staff regularly helped them with personal care and supported them to participate in group visits and activities. For example, one person told us, “I like going to the social club during the week and on Fridays, I also like to watch television and have a take away meal.”

We spoke with two care workers who told us the information recorded in peoples care plans helped them to provide support for people on an individual basis. Two care staff told us they had been provided with appropriate training and had undertaken safeguarding training within the last twelve months; these people told us how they would recognise different types of abuse and what their duties and responsibilities were with regards to safeguarding vulnerable adults.

The people who used the service told us they felt safe in the house as staff were always on hand to provide guidance and support. The three people we spoke with expressed a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures in the house, for example, they told us they knew to ask all visitors to show ID before entering the house, and to ask visitors to sign the visitor’s log for house records.

We spoke with four people who used the service from Elizabeth Fitzroy Support, Pelham Road. They told us they were very satisfied with the support from the provider.

The people we spoke with told us staff regularly helped them with personal care and supported them to participate in group visits and activities.

The people who used the service told us they felt safe in the house as staff were always o hand to provide guidance and support. Four people we spoke with expressed a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures in the house, for example, they told us they knew to ask all visitors to show ID before entering the house and to then ask visitors to sign the visitor’s log for house records.

The registered manager evidenced the provider had clearly addressed the improvement action identified in the last inspection.

We spoke with 2 of the 5 people receiving care from Elizabeth Fitzroy support, they told us that they were very happy with the staff and the support they received. The people we spoke with said that the staff helped them with personal care as well as accessing the community, attending appointments and also some of the activities they took part in. People appreciated that they could call on the staff for help at any time as there was always someone in the building. People told us that they were involved in recruiting new staff.