This inspection took place on 25 and 26 April 2017 and was announced.

This was the first inspection of Excel Support Services Limited - South East (Also known as CHOICE supported Living - East.) They were previously registered but the provider changed in October 2016 which meant that the service was newly registered at that time. The service offers a supported living service to people with learning and other difficulties which impact on their ability to live independently. The service assists people to hold their own tenancies to enable them to live in their own homes. It aims to support and encourage people to become as independent as possible, with only as much intervention from care staff as is necessary. The service, currently, supports 71 people in 39 premises.

The service is required to have a registered manager. 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. There is a registered manager running the service.

People, staff and others were kept as safe as possible. Exceptionally, people were positively supported to learn how to keep themselves safe. People were protected by staff who had received the appropriate training and received training themselves so everyone knew how to recognise and deal with any form of abuse. Staff had been safely recruited and were suitable to provide people with safe care. People were supported, by trained staff, to take their medicines safely. All significant risks were identified and managed to keep people and staff as safe as possible.

People’s right to make decisions and choices for themselves was upheld by staff. Care staff understood how important it was to people to give consent and direct their own life. People’s rights were protected by staff who understood the Mental Capacity Act (2005). This legislation provides a legal framework that sets out how to act to support people who do not have capacity to make a specific decision. 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 needs were met by a committed and caring staff team who were exceptional at equipping people to attain as much independence as possible. They were creative and innovative in finding ways to support people to gain communication skills so they could express themselves more fully. It ensured staff could understand people and people could understand staff. Any information relating to people who use the service were produced in formats people may be able to understand and often in individualised formats. The service, unusually had a number of ways of ensuring people could get involved in planning and running their service. People’s diversity was recognised and respected and they were treated with respect and dignity at all times.

People were supported to be part of the community and experience a wide range of activities, including attending work and college.

The service was well managed by a registered manager and management team who were described as open and supportive. The service had numerous ways to continually monitor and assess the quality of care they offered. Any shortfalls or improvements needed were identified and acted upon.