Care Opportunities Supported Living achieved an Outstanding overall rating at its December 2016 inspection, with Outstanding ratings in effective and responsive domains driven by innovative staff training methods, highly individualised care planning and remarkable outcomes for people with learning and physical disabilities. No regulatory breaches or failure themes were identified; the service demonstrated consistent good practice across safe, caring and well-led domains with a strong person-centred culture throughout.
Strengths
· Innovative support plan knowledge questionnaires used to continuously assess and improve staff understanding of individual people's needs
· Creative risk management enabling people to achieve life goals such as international travel and attending live sporting events
· Outstanding person-centred care with highly individualised care plans, communication methods and daily routines tailored to each person
· Effective use of visual prompt cards and Makaton to support communication with people with limited verbal ability
· Robust staff training programme including specialist areas such as dementia, end-of-life care and behaviour support
Quality-Statement breakdown (22)
safe: Safeguarding and protection from abuseGood
safe: Risk management and positive risk-takingGood
safe: Medication managementGood
safe: Safe recruitmentGood
safe: Staffing levelsGood
safe: Incident recording and learningGood
effective: Staff induction, training and developmentOutstanding
effective: Supervision and appraisalOutstanding
effective: Mental Capacity Act and consentOutstanding
effective: Health and nutritional needsOutstanding
caring: Dignity, respect and kindnessGood
caring: People's involvement in decisionsGood
caring: Independence and empowermentGood
caring: End-of-life care planningGood
responsive: Person-centred care planningOutstanding
responsive: Activities and community accessOutstanding
responsive: Communication and information accessibilityOutstanding
Care Opportunities Supported Living achieved an overall Good rating (December 2019), with an Outstanding rating for Responsive reflecting creative, life-changing person-centred support that reduced social isolation and built independence for people with learning and physical disabilities. Minor concerns were noted around pre-employment DBS checks being absent for some staff at commencement and gaps in some staff records, both of which the provider addressed promptly following inspection.
Concerns (3)
moderateStaff competency: “the provider did start some staff in employment before their checks were in place. The provider believed these staff being shadowed was sufficient to minimise risks.”
minorRecord keeping: “there were some gaps for some staff. The provider took action to rectify this in a timely manner.”
minorIncident learning: “following medicines errors recognised improvements were needed in how they reported these, which had been completed.”
Strengths
· Outstanding responsiveness: staff supported people to build confidence and independence, achieving life-changing outcomes including independent travel, volunteering, and community engagement.
· In-house clinical team (psychologist, behavioural specialist, assistant psychologists) enabling fast therapeutic intervention and highly personalised support plans.
· Strong safeguarding culture with comprehensive risk assessments including detailed behaviour support plans and least-restrictive restraint guidance.
· Medicines management system with audits, competency checks, and no gaps found in medicines records at inspection.
· Positive, open organisational culture with quarterly corporate governance meetings including family members, staff champions, and annual awards ceremonies.
Quality-Statement breakdown (26)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood