The Phoenix Centre is run by Blackpool Borough Council. Within the building there is a residential mental health service for people with a primary diagnosis of enduring mental illness who are experiencing a mental health crisis. The service offers short stays from one night to up to two weeks to enable a period of recovery. The location also provides a domiciliary service for people who live in the local community. This includes supporting people with personal care needs and assisting people to be as independent as they can be. In addition, the Phoenix Centre provides a supported living scheme and extra supported living scheme in houses within the community. The aim of the services is to provide rehabilitation for people to move on to accommodation of their choice. A Shared Lives Service is also managed from the Centre. The service provides care and support to individuals within Shared Lives Carers homes throughout the Blackpool community. The services each had a registered manager.

At the last inspection carried out on 24 and 26 May 2016 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. 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.

There were registered managers in place for each service. 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 supported by all the services told us they were safe, well cared for and liked the staff who supported them. Comments received included, “I am enjoying my stay at the Phoenix Centre and I feel completely safe. The staff have been great with me.” And, “I feel completely safe with the staff who support me. They have never let me down.”

Procedures were in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report unsafe care or abusive practices.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. They had skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and social needs.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required.

People’s care and support had been planned with them and was person centred. They told us they had been consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered.

Care plans were organised and had identified care and support people required. We found they were informative about care people had received.

We saw there was an emphasis on promoting dignity, respect and independence for people supported by all services. They told us they were treated as individuals and received person centred care.

The registered managers understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions.

We looked around the building of the Phoenix Centre and found it had been maintained, was clean and hygienic and a safe place for people to stay. We found equipment had been serviced and maintained as required. The design of the building and facilities provided were appropriate for the care and support provid

This inspection visit took place on 24 and 26 May 2016 and was announced.

The last inspection took place on the 28 August 2013. They were meeting all the requirements of the regulations that were inspected at that time.

The Phoenix Centre is run by Blackpool Borough Council. The location provides a domiciliary service for people who live in the local community. This includes supporting people with personal care needs and assisting people to be as independent as they can be. Within the building there is a residential mental health service for people with a primary diagnosis of enduring mental illness who are experiencing a mental health crisis. The service offers short stays from one night to up to two weeks to enable a period of recovery. In addition the Phoenix centre provides a supported living scheme and extra supported living scheme in houses within the community. These are houses in the Blackpool area that are staffed 24 hours a day and provide accommodation. The aim of the services is to provide rehabilitation for people and move on to accommodation of their choice. The services each had a registered manager. At the time of the inspection there were 21 people supported by the supported living services. The domiciliary service was providing support for 99 people. In addition there were three people currently staying at the Phoenix Service mental health unit within the Phoenix Centre.

There were registered managers in place for the four services. 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.

We found recruitment procedures were safe with appropriate checks undertaken in all services before new staff commenced employment. These included employment and personal references along with a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS).

The registered managers had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report any unsafe care or abusive practices.

Care records of people who used the services were person centred where appropriate, organised and identified support people required. Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during delivery of their care. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

We looked at how medicines were administered. The medicines administration record (MAR) sheets were legible and did not contain any gaps. The registered manager’s ensured only staff that had been trained to manage and administer medicines gave them to people.

People were kept safe and secure in all the services provided by the Phoenix Centre. For example the supported houses had appropriate numbers of staff deployed. This meant the service was meeting people’s needs and provided a flexible service. One staff member said, “We have plenty of staff to support the people we care for.”

The registered managers understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions.

People were supported to eat and drink and were encouraged to attend to their own dietary requirements. In the rehabilitation services people were supported to maintain their own dietary needs and budget arrangements for food. One person who was staying at the service said, “I was not able to do what I do now in relation to cooking. The staff have given me a lot more confidence.”

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of how people should be treated in terms of respect and supporting people

We found written evidence to show that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. We saw that care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. The evidence we saw indicated that people who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. We found that the provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive. The recent refurbishment of the building was found to be complete, and people were satisfied with the results.

The people we spoke with said the support they were receiving was being provided in a sensitive and dignified manner. We spoke with one person people who confirmed they had been involved in the assessment of their needs. They told had felt fully involved in the whole process. They said their views about how they wished their support to be delivered had been listened to and were being respected. The manager and some of the staff explained that there were easy to follow systems in place that were used to reduce the risk of people receiving unsafe or inappropriate care and support. These included the use of assessment tools, risk assessments, care plans and reviews. People using the service said that they felt safe in the home, and they knew who to speak to if they didn't. One person we spoke with thought there were always enough staff on duty to help the different people living and staying at the home. The manager gave a clear explanation of the systems in place for calculating the number of suitability qualified and experienced staff needed to work with the people. We saw that the that the calculation was based on the assessed needs of the people at the home. The manager provided clear written evidence showing us the different systems that were used for making decisions about the types of care and support people needed. This information also showed us how the staff managed any risks to people’s health, welfare and safety.

People told us they had been given plenty of information about the service being provided to make an informed choice about whether the centre was the right place to meet their needs.

People told us they are fully involved in decision making regarding their care.

“We discussed the support to be provided when I visited the centre before I moved in”.

“The staff are absolutely brilliant here. I love it. I have no complaints about anything. I feel really well at the moment. I have gained some confidence and they are helping me develop new skills. I am doing my own shopping and managing my money with their support. I have learned to make my own meals. You can make a drink or a snack in the kitchen whenever you want. I come and go as I please. I visit the day centre three times a week and have started going to the gym”.

“I have been here for three weeks and think it is wonderful. You have complete freedom to come and go as you please. The staff are very helpful and kind. I can’t praise the service enough. I have never spoken to anyone who isn’t happy with the support they are receiving. I am fully involved in decision making about the support I am receiving. The staff are very relaxed and easy going”.

“I am doing my own shopping and managing my money with their support. I have learned to make my own meals and now enjoy cooking. You can make a drink or a snack in the kitchen whenever you want”.

“We choose and buy our own food and make our own meals. I am having lasagne tonight with garlic”.

“The staff are absolutely brilliant here”.

“The staff are very helpful and kind”.

“I can’t praise the service enough. Have never spoken to anyone who wasn’t happy with the support they are receiving. The staff are very relaxed and easy going”.