Renai Support Services provides personal care and support to people living in supported living in Torquay and East Devon. Supported living is defined as situations where people live in their own home and receive care and/or support which helps to promote their independence. At the time of our inspection, personal care and support was being provided to four people living in one house in Torquay. The personal care provided to people was 24-hour support with a set number of hours per week allocated as one-to-one care.

Renai Support Services also provides enablement support to other people living in the same house and elsewhere. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is only authorised to inspect the personal care services provided. The inspection therefore did not look at the care provided to people who received enablement.

Rating at last inspection

At our last inspection we rated the service as Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service is rated Good

People were supported by caring staff who understood the care each person required to ensure they were kept safe. People’s care needs had been assessed when they first received care from Renai staff; care plans were reviewed regularly and involved the person and their family. Where risks, needs or preferences changed, care plans were amended to ensure the care was still safe and maintained people’s quality of life.

Staff showed genuine care and compassion when working with people. People and their families were very positive about the care provided. Staff supported people to be as independent as possible by doing activities both inside and outside the home. Staff also supported people’s rights to privacy, dignity and family life. Staff worked within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

There were sufficient staff to help people receive care in a relaxed and calming environment. Staff spent time understanding and delivering care to people, some of whom were not able to communicate verbally. Staff were able to describe, and demonstrate, how they used a variety of communication methods which were tailored to each person’s requirements.

People were helped to stay healthy and well. Staff supported people to have a healthy diet and ensured, where necessary, health professionals were consulted and involved in the person’s care.

Staff were recruited and trained to ensure the care provided was safe. Training included how to support people with specific conditions such as epilepsy. Staff were also supervised and supported by the registered manager.

Medicines were received, stored, administered and recorded following national good guidance and practice.

The registered manager was also a director of the provider organisation. They understood their role and worked with people, family and staff to consider and implement improvements to the service. This included considering lessons that could be learned when things went wrong. There was a complaints policy and procedure which supported people and their families to raise concerns. The service had met the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 by submitting information when requested to the Care Quality Commission and displaying their last inspection rating.

The inspection took place on 3 and 4 February 2016 and was announced. The provider was given short notice because the location registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an office from which the provider runs a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Renai Support Services provides personal care and support to two people living in a supported living house in Torquay. Supported living is defined as situations where people live in their own home and receive care and/or support in order to promote their independence. It also provides enablement support to a person in the same house as well as other people living elsewhere. The CQC is only authorised to inspect the personal care services provided. The inspection therefore did not look at the care provided to people who received enablement. The personal care provided to people was 24 hour support with a set number of hours per week allocated as one-to-one care.

The service was registered in May 2015 and had not been previously inspected. The inspection was carried out by one Adult Social Care inspector.

When we visited 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.

There were sufficient staff to support people to undertake activities of their choice. Staff had been recruited safely and underwent an induction with regular supervision and feedback. Staff were supported to undertake national qualifications. Staff also undertook training to ensure they were able to work effectively. This included courses to help them meet people’s particular needs.

People’s medicines were stored and administered safely by staff who had been trained.

People were supported to be as independent as possible. Where restrictions were placed on people to ensure their safety, the provider had undertaken mental capacity assessments for such restrictions or had a best interest meeting to consider what needed to be done.

People and their families described the care they received as very good and said the staff who worked with them were caring and safe. Throughout the inspection there was evidence of people enjoying the company of the staff, with lots of friendly interactions and gentle banter on both sides. Staff were respectful of people’s right to privacy and treated them with courtesy and kindness.

The registered manager visited the home frequently and supported staff to make improvements to the care delivered.