Swanton Community Care supports people who are living with a learning disability to live as independently as possible within their own homes. The main office is located on an industrial site close to Hessle Road in Hull and has accessible entrances and car parking facilities. The team supports people in Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire. Currently personal care is provided on a 24 hour basis to five people who live at the same address and one person who lives on their own with staff support.

The service is required to have a registered manager by a condition of registration. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. The registered manager had recently left the service and recruitment was underway. There were measures in place for a locality manager to oversee the service and a service co-ordinator managed the day to day operation.

We undertook this inspection on the 9 August 2016. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice as we wanted to be sure there was someone available at the main office to speak with us.

Is the service safe?

We found staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff employed to meet people’s care needs. Some people who used the service were assessed as requiring one to one support and staff confirmed they always had this support. We found staff had received training in how to safeguard people from the risk of harm and abuse. They were knowledgeable about what constituted abuse and what to do should they become aware it had happened. Staff completed risk assessments for specific areas to help identify risk and also to help reduce it without overly controlling people’s lives. We found people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had received training and managed medicines safely.

Is the service effective?

We found staff supported people who used the service to meet their health care needs and to access health care professionals when required. They supported people to make appointments and accompanied them to the doctors or dentist. People’s nutritional needs were met. Staff supported people to shop and prepare their meals. They provided advice to people when required about healthy eating. Staff supported people to make their own decisions and choices about aspects of their lives. Some people lacked capacity and when this occurred, staff knew what action to take and how to apply legislation to ensure decisions were made in their best interest. Staff involved relevant people when best interest decisions were made. We found staff had access to a range of training which was considered essential to their roles and which was specific to the needs of people who used the service. The training, support and appraisal system helped staff to feel confident when supporting people. The building where the service was located had an entrance suitable for people who used wheelchairs or who had mobility difficulties.

Is the service caring?

We observed staff supported people in a kind and patient way. They had developed positive relationships with the people who used the service and knew their needs well. We observed staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and helped them to develop independent living skills. Staff helped people to keep in contact with their friends and family. Information and explanations were provided to people, some of which was in an easy read format. We saw staff held people’s personal records securely and maintained confidentiality.

Is the service responsive?

We found people who used the service had an assessment of their needs and care plans were developed which guided staff in how to support them so care was not overlooked. Staff were responsive to people’s changing needs and kept do