About the service:

Craegmoor Supporting You in the West Midlands provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone using the service received a regulated activity. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to eleven people with a learning disability and/or physical health needs.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service met the characteristics of requires improvement in three out of the five key questions.

Staff had not been adequately supported to ensure that they received training the provider deemed as mandatory. Staff had not always received supervision in line with the organisation’s policy and evidence to show induction completed by staff was missing. We made recommendations in relation to seeking consent and good governance.

The systems for checking staff suitability to work with vulnerable adults was not consistently followed. Gaps in employment history had not been adequately explored for one staff member. We have made a recommendation in relation to safe recruitment practices.

The service was aware of the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People were assisted to have maximum choice and control of their lives and consent had been sought.

People liked using the service. We received positive feedback from people and their relatives.

People were protected against abuse, neglect and discrimination. Staff ensured people's safety and acted when necessary to prevent any harm.

Staff spoke passionately about their roles and wanting to provide quality care. We saw evidence staff went the extra mile to enhance people’s well-being and help them fulfil their wishes.

Assessments had been carried out before people started using the service. Care records were comprehensive, and person centred. Reviews had been undertaken with the involvement of people and their relatives. Staff knew people well. They had developed good relationships with people.

There was good evidence that equality and diversity had been considered, in particular around those with protected characteristics such as culture, race, disability and religion.

There were systems to support good governance and the monitoring of the service. However, these had not been adequately implemented to ensure compliance with regulations.

Rating at last inspection: This inspection was the first inspection since the service was re-registered with the Commission in September 2017. The service had been registered at a different location.

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Enforcement: Information relating to the action the provider needs to take can be found at the end of this report.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people received safe, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates. We will follow up on the recommendations we have made at our next inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk