This inspection took place on 23 February 2017 and was announced. This service was rated ‘good’ at our last inspection in January 2015.

This service provides personal care and support to people living in supported living schemes across the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton and Sutton. Supported living is a model of social care where people rent their homes from a housing provider and receive an agreed amount of care and support hours from a separate care provider according to their individual needs. At the time of our inspection there was a total of 44 people using the service. 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 had built very good relationships with staff, who were friendly and respectful and who knew people well. The service used creative and innovative methods of supporting people to express their views and make choices about their care, including the use of accessible technology where needed. This included additional support for people who were able to communicate verbally but found it difficult to express their wishes for other reasons.

The service had a strong commitment to promoting people’s independence. Staff worked closely with people to build their confidence and learn to do more for themselves. People had access to adapted equipment according to their individual assessed needs to enable them to carry out daily living tasks independently.

The provider used a person-centred approach to care planning based on evidence-based measures of quality of life. Support plans were personalised and centred around people’s preferences, views and experiences as well as their care and support needs. They took into account people’s history, family relationships and religious and cultural needs. People’s care and support was planned in such a way as to facilitate working towards their goals and ambitions. The provider recognised people’s achievements and encouraged them to always improve by setting new targets whenever their care was reviewed.

People received support to engage in a variety of activities to suit their tastes and abilities, both at home and in the wider community. This included taking more responsibility for their own household tasks but also pursuing their interests and hobbies, making new friends and finding new interests. Staff supported people to pursue education and employment opportunities and to join social groups.

People were satisfied with how the service responded to their complaints and concerns. There was an accessible complaints procedure and records showed the registered manager dealt with complaints according to the procedure.

The provider had a visible person-centred culture with a clear vision and strong values, which staff were familiar with and knew how to apply to their work. Leadership was accessible and people, staff and others involved with the service had opportunities to express their views about the service. Managers used people’s feedback to improve services in a variety of ways.

The registered manager used several tools to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service including internal audits carried out by people who used similar services operated by the same provider. They assessed the quality of the service against standards that were based on people’s feedback about the care and support they wanted from services. People were also involved in the recruitment and selection of new staff. The provider worked to challenge discrimination and stigma in recruitment, for example by guaranteeing an interview to all applicants who identified as being disabled.

Staff knew how to keep people safe, because there were

This inspection took place on 27 January 2015 and was announced. This was the first inspection since this service registered with CQC on 17 September 2014.

Royal Mencap Society - Domiciliary Care Services - South London provides personal care for people with a learning disability and/ or autism. At the time of the inspection the service supported 40 people in seven supported living schemes with staff available day and night, and two other people in their own home. The supported living schemes were in the London boroughs of Croydon, Hounslow, Richmond and Islington.

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.

Risks that people faced whilst they received care were generally managed well, except in one case where a person’s risks in relation to malnutrition were not addressed appropriately. Accidents and incidents were reviewed to identify patterns and provide the right support to people.

People were supported to understand how to stay safe. Staff had a good understanding of how to recognise abuse and how to help protect people from the risk of abuse. Safeguarding procedures were followed to keep people safe.

Recruitment procedures were safe ensuring only staff who were suitable worked with people using the service. There were enough staff to support people effectively. Staff were supported in their role through induction, supervision and training.

Only staff assessed as competent administered medicines. Appropriate procedures were in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and where people could not make decisions these were made in people’s best interests, and were recorded where necessary.

People were able to eat the foods they chose. Staff understood people’s individual preferences and supported people with specialist dietary needs. Staff also supported people to attend regular health appointments.

Staff were kind and treated people with dignity and respect. People were supported to be as independent as they wanted to be and they were involved in planning their own care, with some support from advocates. Care plans reflected people’s views on how they wanted their care to be delivered.

Systems were in place to investigate and respond to complaints and suggestions, ensuring learning took place.

People using the service and staff felt listened to and were involved in the running of the service, for example with people sitting on the panel to interview new staff. The service encouraged open communication with people and their relatives, staff and outside professionals.

The registered manager and staff understood their roles well and a range of audits were in place to monitor the quality of service.