The inspection took place on 14 December 2015. At our previous inspection 21 January 2014 the service was compliant with the regulations. This inspection was announced. 48 hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

WHM Work Connections Supported Living Office provide personal care and support to people that already access their skills centre. They support people to carry out daily living tasks in their own home and in their local community. At the time of our inspection there were six people using the service. One person was receiving support with their personal care at the time of our inspection.

There is a registered manager at 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.

People felt safe using the service. Staff had a good understanding of the types of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

Risks associated with people's care had been assessed and control measures were identified and put in place to keep people safe.

People were supported by a core group of staff. People received support from staff that knew and understood their needs. The service was flexible to respond to people's needs and to enable them to attend activities of their choice.

Staff were supported in their roles. They received regular training to further their knowledge. They received supervision to support them in their work.

Staff had a good understanding of how they were able to respect people’s privacy and dignity. People were supported to be as independent as they wanted to be. Staff encouraged people to develop independence.

People contributed to decisions about their care and support. People's needs were assessed and care plans put in place to ensure that they were met.

People were supported by a team of staff that had the managerial guidance and support they needed to do their job. All of the staff at the service shared the same vision and values. They were all committed to supporting people to maximise their independence by enabling individuals to have choice and control over their own lives.

There was no system in place to monitor that people received the allocated times of calls that they should have had throughout the month.

We spoke with two people who used the service and two members of staff. We also reviewed two care records and three staff files.

We spoke with two members of staff and asked them to explain their approach to ensuring people understood and agreed to their care. Their responses showed us that they understood the need to explain and gain consent before carrying out care and support.

We also spoke with two people who used the service and asked them their views in relation to the care they received. All spoke with high regard for the quality of care and kindness displayed by the staff. One person told us: “My needs and preferences were discussed with me before the carers started to visit me in my home.”

We spoke with two members of staff and asked them to explain their understanding of the types of abuse and what action they would take if they suspected or recognised abuse. They were able to identify types of abuse and explained with confidence who they would report it to.

We asked staff to explain to us how useful they had found the induction programme and initial support. All replied they had been supported during the first few weeks of their employment and felt confident and capable to fulfil their role.

We asked staff to explain how new guidance was communicated to them. One member of staff told us: “New policies are highlighted on the staff white board. We are then asked to read the policy, ask questions and sign to say we have read and understood it."

The person who used the service told us they understood the care and treatment choices available to them and were able to express their views and were involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. However this was not reflected in the care record we reviewed and the daily support and care given was not recorded at all.

The care record we saw was personalised and included social care needs and assessments. However we did not see evidence that the risk assessments relating to key elements of delivering safe care were reviewed on a regular basis.

The member of staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the types of abuse However the manager told us the staff had not received safeguarding training. We saw evidence of a training requirement record. The manager explained that they were in the process of organising the training for the staff. We asked to see a training matrix which highlighted the training requirements for the staff. The manager explained that they did not have a training matrix.

The manager explained the person who used the service kept a diary of the support and care given and the diary was reviewed with the person on a weekly basis. We were also told that six weeks after the initiation of the care and support package there was a meeting held to review the package of care. However there was no documented evidence that the care review took place.