The inspection took place on 19 July 2017. It was an announced visit, as it is a small service providing care in the community and we needed to be sure that someone was available to speak with us. The Hive provides support to people living in their own homes, who may have a learning difficulty and/or mental health or neurological support requirements. There were two people accessing the service when we inspected, one of whom was accessing the regulated activity of personal care with the service.

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.

We last inspected this service in June 2016, and found that it was good in all areas except one. The service required improvement in well-led, as they had not notified CQC prior to making changes, which was not working within all the conditions of their registration. We found during this inspection that the required improvements had been made and the service was registered correctly.

People using the service were safe. There were systems in place to identify risks and protect people from harm. These included appropriate risk assessments which were in place to provide guidance for staff on managing risk. There was sufficient guidance for staff to keep people safe. Where staff prompted or checked people had taken medicines, risk assessments were in place for those people to administer their own medicines safely.

Staff received training in mental capacity and sought consent before carrying out any care tasks, and they supported people to make their own decisions. Staff received supervision and training to support them in developing their roles. Staff supported people to eat a balanced diet in their own homes, and where required, a special diet.

People were looked after by staff who were caring and they had built a strong relationship with them. They were supported to maintain and improve their independence through setting goals. Staff responded promptly to any changing healthcare needs, and people were well supported to access any healthcare services. People were actively involved in their care planning and staff supported them to access the community.

People were encouraged to provide feedback on the service they received. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and these were used to develop and improve the service.