Bradford Regional Office is based in Rotherham, but supporting people living in the Bradford area. The service provides personal care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so they can live in their own home as independently as possible. 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.

The service supports people who have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, mental health needs or an eating disorder. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting seven people, including three people who required assistance with their personal care.

The inspection took place on 12 and 19 April 2018 with the provider being given short notice of the first visit to the office in line with our current methodology for inspecting community services. This was the first inspection since the location was registered in April 2017 and we rated it as ‘Good’.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

All the people we spoke with told us they were very happy with the support staff provided, and how the service operated.

People were supported safely. There were systems in place to reduce the risk of abuse and to assess and monitor potential risks to individual people. Incidents and accidents were monitored and action was taken to reduce risks to people.

Medication was managed safely. Staff who administered medications had been trained to carry out this role appropriate.

Recruitment processes helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. Staff had undertaken a range of training and support that aimed to meet people’s needs while developing staffs’ knowledge and skills.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s privacy was respected and they were treated with dignity, kindness and compassion.

People received a nutritious and balanced diet and their dietary needs and choices were met. They were supported to maintain relationships with people who were important to them and to participate in social activities within the community and at home.

People’s needs had been assessed before their care package started and where possible they or their relatives had been involved in formulating their support plans, which were person centred and gave clear guidance to staff on supporting each individual person. Staff worked closely with other social and healthcare professionals to ensure people received a service that met all their needs.

People we spoke with told us they knew how to raise any concerns and said they felt comfortable doing so. When concerns had been raised we saw the correct procedure had been used to record, investigate and resolve them.

People were consulted about their satisfaction in the service received and systems were in place to make sure company policies were followed. All the people we spoke with, including staff, told us they were very happy with the way the service was run. People spoke positively about the registered manager and how staff delivered care.

Further information is in the detailed findings below