Mary Jones Court is a supported living service that provides care and support for up to 20 people in their own flats. At the time of the inspection two people living at Mary Jones Court received support with personal care from staff. The service specialises in providing care to people who have learning disabilities.

At the last inspection in July 2014, with the inspection report being published in January 2015, the service was rated as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found that the service continued to be ‘Good’.

People’s risks were managed and care plans contained appropriate and detailed risk management plans with input from health and social care professionals, which were updated regularly when people’s needs changed.

People who required support with their medicines received them safely from staff who had completed training in the safe handling and administration of medicines. Staff completed appropriate records when they administered medicines and these were checked by staff and audited monthly to minimise medicines errors.

People were supported to have a healthy and balanced diet, which took into account their preferences as well as medical and nutritional needs.

Staff received the training and supervision they needed to meet people’s needs and were knowledgeable about their jobs.

People had regular access to healthcare services and other health and social care professionals, such as GPs, dentists and dietitians.

People were involved in planning how they were cared for and supported. Care records were person centred and developed to meet people’s individual needs and discussed regularly during weekly key work sessions.

People and their relatives where applicable, were informed about their health and well-being and were actively involved in decisions about their care and support, in accordance with people’s own wishes.

We saw that staff treated people with respect and kindness, respected their privacy and promoted their dignity and independence.

There was an accessible complaints procedure in place and people and their relatives knew how to make a complaint and were able to share their views and opinions about the service. There was a survey in place and monthly tenants meetings to allow people the opportunity to feedback about the care and support they received.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service. Information obtained was used to identify ways to make improvements.

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 was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service. This inspection was unannounced.

The service provides care and support to people living in their own flats. Mary Jones Court consists of 20 self-contained flats. Three people living at Mary Jones Court received support with personal care from staff. The service specialises in providing care to people who have learning disabilities.

The last inspection was carried out in May 2014 and at this time all areas we reviewed were met.

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 and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law, as does the provider.  

Staff had a good understanding of how to identify abuse, and knew how to respond appropriately to any concerns to keep people safe. Staff at Mary Jones Court were meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure that only people who were deemed suitable worked within the service. There was an induction programme for new staff which prepared them for their role. Staff were provided with a range of training to help them to carry out their roles effectively. They received regular supervision meetings with their manager and had annual appraisals to support them to meet people’s needs. There were enough staff employed by the service to meet people’s needs.

People had care plans in place which reflected their assessed needs. People were supported effectively with their health needs and were involved in making decisions about what kind of support they wanted.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion and cared for them according to their individual needs. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and preferences and we saw positive interactions between staff and people living at Mary Jones Court on the day of our inspection. People were encouraged to be involved in the running of the organisation and incentives were provided to encourage this.

People using the service, relatives and staff were encouraged to give feedback on the service. They knew how to make complaints and there was an effective complaints management system in place.

The service carried out regular audits to monitor the quality of the service and to plan improvements. Where shortfalls were identified action plans were put in place to rectify these. 

At the time of our visit the registered manager was unavailable due to illness. We spoke with three people living at Mary Jones Court. People spoke positively about the service and the care they received. There were a number of ways people living in Mary Jones Court were involved in decisions about the way that services were delivered.

People told us they felt safe living in the service and felt that staff were well trained and knowledgeable. One person said, “they know the support I need and can tell when I need support.”

Staff we spoke with received appropriate development and training and told us they were supported to carry out their role.

We spoke to three people using the service. People felt safe at Mary Jones Court. They said the staff treated them with respect and were friendly. It was clear that people valued time with their key-worker.

People chose to do what they wanted, when they wanted to do it and people gave us lots of examples of this. One person said: "They take me out shopping. I get my money. I go on day trips and on holiday. I am choosing a hotel on the Isle of Wight."

People said that they were involved in planning their care and had access to their records.

People knew how to make a complaint and get support with this if they needed it. We saw evidence that people's complaints had been listened to, investigated and acted upon. People were able to feedback their views about the service at tenant's meetings, through surveys or by raising any issues with their key-worker.