This inspection took place on 14 March 2018 and was announced.

This service provides personal care and support to ten adults living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live 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. This supported living service meets the needs of people with mental health care needs. People use the service as a stepping stone from residential care to independent living in the community, they were mainly independent and did not require staff support all of the time. The service is run from an office on site. There were ten people using the service at the time of our inspection.

A registered manager was employed at the service and they were present during the inspection. 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.

We observed safe care. Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse and showed a good understanding of what their roles and responsibilities were in preventing abuse.

The registered manager had experience of managing mental health services. The registered manager spent time each week delivering the service alongside their colleagues. This meant that the registered manager had an in depth knowledge of how the service was running and got to know people and staff very well.

The registered manager involved people in planning their care by assessing their needs based on a person centred approach. We observed and people described a service that was welcoming and friendly. Staff provided friendly compassionate care and support. People were encouraged to get involved in how their care was planned and delivered. All of the people had the support of a community psychiatric nurse (CPN). People clearly had control over their lives when they were well. People could involve relatives or others who were important to them when they chose the care they wanted.

The person centred care plans developed to assist staff to meet people’s needs told people’s life story, recorded who the important relatives and friends were in people’s lives and explained what lifestyle choices people had made. Care planning told staff what people could do independently, what skills people wanted to develop and what staff needed to help people to do.

The registered manager and staff followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The provider understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff received training about this.

Staff assessed and treated people as individuals so that they understood how they planned people’s care to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing and choices. Risks were assessed within the service, both to individual people and for the wider risk from the environment people lived in. Actions to minimise risks were recorded. Incidents and accidents were recorded and checked by the registered manager to see what steps could be taken to prevent these happening again. Staff understood the steps they should take to minimise risks when they were identified. The provider’s health and safety policies and management plans were implemented by staff to protect people from harm.

The registered manager and the provider had demonstrated a desire to improve the quality of the service for people by listening to feedback, asking people their views and improving how the service was delivered.

People and staff felt that the service was well led. They told us that staff and the registered manager were experienced, understood people’s needs, were approachable and listened