This inspection was announced and took place on 14 November 2016. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a supported living service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available for the inspection. It also allowed us to arrange to visit people in their own homes. The last inspection of the service was carried out in March 2014. No concerns were identified with the care being provided to people at that inspection.

Bells Piece Supported Living Service provides support to people living in their own homes. They provide care and support in the area of Farnham, Surrey. People who live in the supported living properties have individual tenancy agreements. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care and support to nine people. We based our inspection at the Bells Piece Care Home which is also the site of the supported living office. People visited the site regularly to take part in various activities associated with their support and interests.

There is 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.

The registered manager had a clear vision for the service. They explained they wanted to develop a service which had the possibility to empower people and the ability to manage what came with that. This meant listening to people, learning and reflecting on what they said.

People were placed at the centre of decisions made about the care and support they received. All care plans were person centred and written with the person’s involvement. One person said, “They sit down with me and discuss it, it is all mine.” Staff spoke passionately about the way they supported people to be independent and maintain control over their own lives. People worked towards achieving goals and planning for their future. For example people were supported to plan holidays and then to achieve the plan by budgeting and managing their finances effectively.

People’s voices were heard throughout their support. They were supported to comment at regular reviews of their care plans. They also attended monthly tenants meetings when they could discuss issues openly without staff from Bells Piece Supported Living being present.

Staff supported people to maintain a place in the community, for example they had supported one person to move to a ground floor flat. This person said, “They have given me my life back.” This meant they were able to continue to access the community safely and with minimal support.

People were protected from abuse because the provider had systems in place to ensure checks of new staffs’ characters and suitability to work with vulnerable adults were carried out. Staff had also received training in protecting vulnerable people from abuse.

People and their relatives told us the management and staff were very accessible and approachable. They said they could raise issues or concerns informally with any member of staff or with the registered manager and they always received helpful responses. Staff said everyone in the organisation, from the top down, focused on the well-being of the people they supported.

The service had a complaints policy and procedure that was included in people’s support plans. People said they were aware of the procedure and knew who they could talk with. People and staff said they felt confident they could raise concerns with the registered manager and they would be dealt with appropriately. One staff member explained they would always support the person in writing a complaint if they wanted them to.

There were systems in place to monitor the care provided and people’s views and opinions were sought on a daily basis. People were invol

Care plans were person centred and documented people's wishes in relation to how their care was provided. Staff members understood how people expressed their needs and wishes about how they wanted to be supported with their care. Staff knew exactly how each person communicated which meant people's wishes were understood and respected.

One family member told us "I am absolutely delighted with them. They continue to impress me - they are very good". Another family member told us "I do not have any problems - I have always found them to be extremely helpful. My relative is very happy which to me is the most important thing of all. I am very happy with the service".

Care plans that we looked at evidenced staff supporting people to make their own choices about what they had for lunch, what activities they took part in and what they needed support with. Records that we looked at evidenced that people were involved in choosing how and when they wanted their care and support. This indicated that people were involved in planning their care on a daily basis.

One person using the service told us "I really like the staff, they are nice and we do lots of fun things together. We go shopping together and go to the pub. If I do not know what I want to do they give me ideas of things I might like". Another person told us "if I want to stay in all day they don't make me go out but they do encourage me to be more active and go out more. I like the staff - I would not change anything".

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. These included spending time with people and talking with them.

We spoke with two people using the service during the inspection. They both told us, in their own way, that they were happy and content.

They showed us their self contained flats and we saw that they had rota’s which explained to them in words and pictures when staff would be visiting in order to support them during certain times of the day.

One person showed us their cat and told us that staff accompanied them to the vet with the cat. We talked to the person about their apartment and garden and they appeared happy and content.

We also gathered evidence of the service provider's performance through observing staff practice and sampling records and documents during and following the inspection.