This inspection of Valley House took place on 6 November 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection since the service registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2017.

Valley House provides care and support to people living in a supported living setting so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. Valley house supports people living with a learning disability/ Autistic Spectrum Disorder/ Physical Disability/ Mental Health. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. People using the service lived in their own flat located in a large property on the outskirts of Bedford in Bedfordshire.

Valley House had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion.

There were six people receiving care and support on the day we inspected. There was a registered manager employed at this 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.

The management team and staff took the safety of people using the service seriously and there were systems and processes in place to protect people from harm or abuse. People had risk assessments in place to minimise risks whilst still ensuring people were able to do what they wanted and have freedom of choice. Incidents were thoroughly investigated and actions were taken to support people if things changed.

There were appropriate arrangements in place to support people to take medication if they required this support.

There were systems and processes in place to support people to keep their living environment clean and free from infection.

People were supported by a dedicated and passionate staff team. We saw that there were enough staff on duty to support people safely and to enable people to take part in activities that they wished to take part in. There were enough staff to provide a flexible service and staff were trained and supported to meets people’s individual needs.

People were supported to maintain their health and well-being. If there were concerns about a persons health then appropriate action was taken. The service worked with and referred people to other health and social care professionals to support peoples well being. People were supported with their dietary needs where appropriate.

People were supported to decorate and maintain their own flats. Appropriate measures had been taken to ensure that the environment met the specific needs of people using the service.

Consent to care and treatment was obtained from people at all times. Where appropriate, capacity assessments and best interest decisions were carried out with people to ensure that they were supported in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) at all times.

There were systems in place to ensure that peoples privacy and dignity were respected. People had the opportunity to remain as independent as possible and make choices about their care and support.

People were supported with kindness and respect. Staff members knew people well so that they could deliver support tailored and specific to that person. Peoples support plans contained detailed information about how to support the person including how they communicated and their ability to make decisions. People and those important to them had been involved in making decisions about their support as much as possible.

Staff and management at the service were passionate about caring for people and had