The Rotherham branch of Eden supported living provides personal care to people living in the community. The Rotherham Regional Office is situated near to Rotherham town centre. Personal care is provided to people accommodated in supported living environments in the Rotherham and Dinnington area. Support packages are flexible and based on people’s individual need. The service also supports people who do not receive personal care.

The inspection took place on 13 and 28 September 2017 with the provider being given short notice of the visit to the office in line with our current methodology for inspecting community services. The service was previously inspected in April 2015 when no breaches of legal requirements were identified and the service was given a rating of ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for “Rotherham Regional Office” on our website at www.cqc.org.uk’.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission [CQC] 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. However, the current registered manager had been promoted within the company and an acting manager had been recruited in June 2017. They told us they would be applying to register with CQC in the near future.

At the time of our inspection there were 11 people using the service who received personal care. We spoke on the telephone with two people who used the service and the parents of five people. When we asked them about their experiences of using the service they told us they were happy with the support staff provided, and overall were satisfied with how the service operated.

Systems were in place to keep people safe while maintaining their independence, People told us staff helped to make sure the environment was safe for people to live in, and supported them to access the community safely.

People’s needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and where possible they, and the relatives, had been involved in formulating their support plans. Care records identified people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care. Changes in their needs had been identified, and support plans amended to meet any changing needs or circumstances.

Where people needed assistance taking their medication this was administered in a timely way by staff who had been trained to carry out this role.

The service employed enough staff to meet the needs of people being supported. However, changes at the service had led to some staff being moved to different locations on a permanent or temporary basis to ensure the correct skill mix was available at each property. One parent told us they had raised this with staff as a concern. Managers told us the disruption had been kept to a minimum, but they would take into account people’s comments.

Robust recruitment procedures ensured the right staff were employed to meet people’s needs safely. Staff received training to administer medications safely both in their own homes and in the residential care home. New staff had completed a structured induction when they joined the service, followed by various specialist and refresher training.

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.

Information about how to raise concerns was available, including in a pictorial [easy to read and understand] format. Complaints had been appropriately addressed and the majority of people told us they were confident that any concerns

Before people received care and treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. The appropriate procedure was followed where people were not able to give consent.

People who used the service had a care plan which was person centred and relevant to their individual needs. We spoke with nine people who used the service, and five staff. One person who used the service said, "I get on really well with the staff, they are lovely.” Another person said, “I do what I want and the staff support me well.”

People were supported to be able to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. People we spoke with said the food was really nice and they enjoyed helping to prepare it. People sat together once a week to decide what they would eat the following week.

People were cared for in a clean and hygienic environment. The staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about infect ion control.

We found that the provider had an effective recruitment procedure in place. Appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work.

The provider had an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

There was an effective complaints procedure in place and people knew how to complain if needed. People we spoke with said they never had to complain, but they felt staff would listen to them and act on any concern they had.

We spoke to three people who used the service and they told us that staff were very kind and supportive. They told us that staff had supported them to go on holiday and that they had recently enjoyed a holiday in Spain. One person who used the service said “Staff help us to plan what meals we are having and then take us shopping”. Another said “I can talk to any member of staff about any problems”.

The inspection took place on 28 April, 1 and 7 May 2015 and was announced. Our last scheduled inspection at this service took place in December 2013 when no breaches of legal requirements were identified.

The Rotherham branch of Eden supported living, is registered to provide personal care to people living in the community. The Rotherham regional office is situated near to Rotherham town centre. Personal care is provided to people accommodated in supported living environments and to people living in their own homes in the Rotherham and Worksop areas. Support packages are flexible and based on individual need.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our 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. However, due to the company restructuring the registered manager has applied to cancel her registration. The company have appointed another manager who will apply for registration with the Care Quality Commission. We met this person on our inspection and her title within the company is regional manager.

We spoke with staff who had a clear understanding of safeguarding adults and what action they would take if they suspected abuse. One care worker said, “We attend safeguarding training to learn how to keep people safe.” Another care worker said, “I would report anything of this nature to my manager straight away. I am confident that my manager would take appropriate action without delay.”

Care and support was planned and delivered in a way that ensured people were safe. The support plans we looked at included risk assessments which identified any risk associated with

people’s care. We saw risk assessments had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risk.

We spoke with staff and people who used the service and we found there were enough staff with the right skills, knowledge and experience to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to have their assessed needs, preferences and choices met by staff who had the necessary skills and knowledge.

We found the service to be meeting the requirements of the mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The staff we spoke with had some knowledge of this and said they would speak to the regional manager and other managers in the team for further advice.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient to maintain a balanced diet. Snacks were available in-between. Meals were flexible to meet the needs of the people who used the service.

People were supported to maintain good health, have access to healthcare services and received on-going healthcare support. We looked at people’s records and found they had received support from healthcare professionals when required.

People who used the service were supported to maintain friendships. Support plans contained information about their circle of friends and who was important to them. We saw that people had their own interests and hobbies and took part in several activities and events on a weekly basis.

We saw staff were aware of people’s needs and the best ways to support them, whilst maintaining their independence.

People’s needs were assessed and care and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual support plan. The support plans were person centred and some contained pictures to assist the person to understand their plan. Support plans included healthcare, communication, personal hygiene, mobility and activities.

The service had a complaints procedure and people knew how to raise concerns. The procedure was also available in an ‘easy read’ version.

The service had a management team which consisted of the regional manager, a person acting in the role of manager, and house managers who oversee the running of the supported living environments. Staff we spoke with felt the service was well led and the management team were approachable and listened to them.