This inspection took place on the 5 and 6 September 2016 and was announced. At our last inspection in September 2014 the service was meeting the regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Sandwell Supported Living Smethwick provides personal care and support to six people with a range of needs which include learning disabilities and physical disabilities that live independently in the community.

There was a registered manager in post, but they were not based full time at this location. The service was managed on a daily basis by a branch manager who advised that they were supported by the registered manager. The branch manager was present during our inspection.

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 were safe and the provider had systems in place to safeguard people from harm. People received their medicines as prescribed and staff had received training to ensure they administered medicines safely. Staff were recruited in a safe way which ensured they were of a good character to work with people who used this service.

Risk assessments and care plans had been developed with the involvement of people. Staff had the relevant information about how to minimise identified risks to ensure people were supported in a safe way.

Staff received regular training opportunities to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to support people in accordance with their needs and the values of the provider. Staff were described as caring and respectful.

The branch manager understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff knew about people’s individual capacity to make decisions and supported them to make their own decisions.

People received support from staff that were respectful and caring and ensured that people’s privacy and dignity was maintained. People were supported to maintain their health; we saw that staff alerted health care professionals if they had any concerns about their health.

Representatives felt that the service provided met people’s need and they were aware of the complaints procedure. Arrangements were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, so that actions could be put in place to drive improvement.