This announced inspection took place on 26 April and 02 May 2018.

The service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that 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. People using the supported living service lived in two ‘houses in multi-occupation’. Houses in multiple occupation are properties where at least three people in more than one household share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities. At the time of our inspection, there were eleven people in receipt of personal care support. The service provides support to younger and older adults with learning disabilities.

Not everyone using Huntsman’s Lodge DCA receives regulated activity; 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 take into account any wider social care provided.

There was 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.

At our last inspection on the 12 January 2016, we rated the service ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of ‘Good’ and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe from harm. Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff understood their duty to report potential risks to people’s safety.

People received their medicines as prescribed and risk assessments were in place to manage risks within people’s lives. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service.

Staffing levels ensured that people's care and support needs were safely met and safe recruitment processes were in place.

Staff induction training and on-going training was provided to ensure that staff had the skills, knowledge and support they needed to perform their roles. Staff were well supported by the registered manager and senior team, and had regular supervision meetings.

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 were involved in their own care planning and were able to contribute to the way in which they were supported.

Staff supported people to access support from healthcare professionals, and supported them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The service worked with other organisations to ensure that people received coordinated and person-centred care and support.

Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and had a process in place which ensured people could raise any complaints or concerns.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection was took place on 24 June 2015 and was announced, which meant the provider was informed two working days beforehand to ensure that key members of the management team would be available.

There was a registered manager in place. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Huntsmans Lodge Limited is a Supported Living Service situated in three locations throughout Leicester. The service provides support for 15 people, who live there under their own tenancy agreements and require support due to physical or other disabilities. Care and support is provided by staff who are based at each of the three buildings.

During the visit, we spoke with four people who used the service, four support staff and the registered manager. We observed interactions between staff and people using the service were kind and respectful.

All of the people we spoke with told us they were happy and felt safe.

Staff we spoke with had received training in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and were able to tell us what they would do if they witnessed or had allegations of abuse or bad practice reported to them.

We found staffing levels were adequate to meet people’s needs. There was little use of agency staff as they trained to work in all three locations.

Robust recruitment procedures were in place which enabled the service to check on the background of staff before they were allowed to work with people.

Staff had been trained to handle medication and care plans provided detailed information about individuals’ medication requirements. Records and audits were in place which ensured people received their medication in a safe manner.

People’s needs were assessed, planned and delivered in line with their individual care needs. The support plans contained a good level of information and were focussed on the person’s induvial needs.

Staff we spoke with knew people well. People who used the service were happy with the care and support received and confirmed staff had sufficient knowledge about them. We saw that people received appropriate support and were treated with dignity and respect.

Staff told us they enjoyed their jobs and said they were well supported within their roles. All staff received regular formal supervision and an annual appraisal. That ensured staff were developed in line with the support people required to maintain their independence.

We saw people were assisted to attend routine health appointments. The service worked well with visiting professionals to provide continuing specialist support for people who used the service. Each care plan that we looked at contained a detailed record of professional contacts and visits. This showed that people’s needs were recognised and outcomes were appropriately recorded.

People who used the service held an individual tenancy agreement.

Customer surveys were distributed on an annual basis, and the service had several methods of obtaining the views of people who lived at all three locations. Comments and suggestions were returned and we saw positive feedback from those that responded.

All of the people we spoke with during our inspection knew how to make a compliant and had been given sufficient information about the process. We saw there were ‘hand out’ cards available for people to pick up at each location, which included the contact details of the registered manager and how people could comment about the home.

People who used the service all knew who the registered manager was and referred to them by their first name. Staff we spoke with told us the registered manager was always available, and there was additional ‘on call’ staff at other times.

The registered manager used a range of checks and audits to ensure the quality of the service provided.

The registered manager informed us regular checks of the service were undertaken by auditors from the head office of Caretech Community Services.

We visited three people who used the service in their own homes and spoke with two care workers who were supporting them. We also spoke with the registered manager and looked at a number of records including people’s personal records, staff records and records in relation to the management of the service.

People told us they were satisfied with the care they were receiving. People were complimentary about the care workers and felt comfortable with the care and support being provided. They said that carers were reliable and understood their needs.

We looked at the records of three people who used the service and found that care had been planned and delivered in a way that promoted people’s health and welfare. Care was provided in accordance with people’s wishes.

We found that staff had been appropriately screened to ensure they were appropriate to work with vulnerable adults. Staff we spoke with demonstrated a good understanding of the needs of people who used the service and told us they were supported by the provider.

The provider had an effective and appropriate quality assurance system in place.