We inspected this service on 13 and 14 June 2016. This was an announced inspection and we telephoned the provider three days prior to our inspection, in order to arrange home visits with people. This was the first inspection of this service. The service provides personal care support for 18 people with a learning disability who live in their own apartment within four supported living homes managed by the provider.

There was a registered manager in the service. 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 inspected this service as we had received concerns from the local authority about the safety of some people who used the service. The provider was working with the local authority and community intervention team to support people to keep safe and to help people to manage their complex behaviour. People felt safe with staff members who had received further training to understand how to recognise and protect them from abuse and harm. When staff suspected any abuse, they now knew how to act to ensure people were protected from further harm.

People kept their medicines in their apartment and were helped to understand what their medicines were for and to take responsibility for them. Staff knew why people needed medicines and when these should be taken.

Staffing was organised flexibly to enable people to be involved with activities and do the things they enjoyed. People could choose to be involved with a variety of activities. People made decisions about their care and staff helped them to understand the information they needed to make informed decisions. Staff sought people’s consent before they provided care and they were helped to make decisions which were in their best interests. People were supported to keep healthy and well and were able to promptly access healthcare services when this was needed.

People were treated with kindness, compassion and respect and staff promoted people’s independence. People liked the staff who supported them and had developed good relationships with them. People maintained relationships with their families and friends who were invited to join in activities with them. Staff listened to people’s views about their care and people were able to influence the development of the service. People knew how to complain about their care and concerns were responded to.

There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service and plan on-going improvements. People who used the service and staff felt involved and able to make suggestions to support the development of on-going improvements.