Park Lodge provides accommodation and support for up to 16 people who have mental health and emotional needs in a supported living setting. This service supports people 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. Park Lodge provides a mixture of 11 self-contained flatlets and rooms with shared kitchen facilities in the main house and five garden self-contained flatlets. All accommodation has en-suite facilities.

Not everyone using Park Lodge received the regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care. Personal care includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of this inspection three people were receiving personal care, but this level of care fluctuated for people.

This inspection took place on 10 and 14 August 2018, a further meeting was held with the acting manager on the 17 August 2018. It was an announced visit, which meant the service was given 48 hours notice, to ensure staff were available to facilitate the inspection.

At our last inspection in June 2017 the service received an overall rating of 'Requires Improvement’. This was because the quality assurance system was not effective in terms of identifying areas where improvements were needed; such as updating the support plans and staff training and, processes to monitor the support provided. Staff training appropriate for staff supporting people with decisions within a supported living setting had not been provided.

At this inspection improvements had been made and the service has been rated ‘Good’.

A registered manager had not been in place since February 2018. A registered manager from another service within the organisation was managing this service as an acting 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.

The service was not always well-led. Quality monitoring systems had not been fully established to ensure effective quality monitoring systems had been established in all areas. For example, medicine audits were not completed and not all medicine records were complete.

People were safe and had the support they needed. As far as possible, people were protected from harm and abuse. Staff were trained in safeguarding and knew how to keep people safe from avoidable harm. There was enough staff to safely meet people's needs and staff had received appropriate training to support their role. Medicines were handled safely by staff who had been trained to do so. The provider had policies and procedures in place for the recruitment of new staff.

People's needs were effectively met because staff had been trained and supported to do so. Staff were supported well with induction, training, supervision and appraisal. People were encouraged to take control of their own lives and staff worked with them to promote their independence. People were encouraged to make decisions and choices for themselves. Staff had attended MCA and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) training and understood how this legislation was applied within a supported living service.

People's health and well-being needs were met. They were supported to have access to healthcare services when they needed them and maintain good mental and physical health. There was a complaints process in place and complaints were responded to appropriately.

Staff were caring and had developed positive relationships with people. They tr

Park Lodge provides accommodation and support for up to 13 people who have mental health and emotional needs in a supported living scheme. At the time of the inspection 11 people, ranging from 22 to 67 years of age, were being supported in a detached older building in a residential area of Eastbourne. There were eight rooms in the main building and a communal lounge, bathrooms and kitchen and, five flats in the extension to the rear that have their own kitchen area and bathroom. In May 2017 the service transitioned from a residential care service to a supported living service. ‘Supported living’ refers to an arrangement whereby people have separate arrangements for their tenancy and their care and gives people choice in receiving care centred around them and where they live.

This inspection took place on 22 and 27 June 2017. It was an announced visit, which meant the service was given 24 hours notice, to ensure staff were available to facilitate the inspection.

A registered manager had not been in place since March 2017. A manager had been appointed and had submitted an application to become the 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.

Park Lodge was, until 22 May 2017, registered with CQC as a residential care home and a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) had been in place for one person. The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of DoLS which applies to care homes but, in a community based service, like supported living; it is the provider’s responsibility to ensure they act in accordance to the law. An application had been made by the local authority to the Court of Protection for ongoing support for this person. This was not in place at the time of the inspection; although the management and staff had attended training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and DoLS and were aware of current guidance to ensure people were protected.

The provider had reviewed their quality assurance system as part of their change of registration. It was not effective in terms of identifying areas where improvements were needed; such as updating the support plans and staff training and, processes to monitor the support provided were not in place. The manager had developed a transition plan, which identified areas that needed to be addressed and included timescales for their completion. This was discussed during the inspection and sent to us afterwards.

Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and explained how they supported people to be independent, make choices and have control over their lives. People and staff were relaxed and comfortable with each other and communication was friendly and on first name terms.

Staff had attended safeguarding training. If they had any concerns they reported them immediately to the manager or senior staff, who were on call evenings and at weekends. Medicines were managed appropriately; staff had attended training and had been assessed before they were able to support people with medicines.

Environmental risk assessments had been completed to identify any risk in the home to people and staff and to reduce them as much as possible. For example, when people cooked their own meals in the communal kitchen.