Kings Lynn Supported Living

We observed that people received safe care from staff who knew them and understood their needs. We saw staff following guidance from professionals. A large proportion of the staff had worked within the service for many years and knew how to support people and their individual risks , and how to protect people from abuse. The provider ensured that staff had the necessary training to support people. People were supported to take risks which enabled them to have a greater level of independence. One person told us that they walked independently to their placement and felt safe because staff had supported them to achieve that goal. The property was well maintained we reviewed records of required checks health and safety.The manager recorded safeguarding concerns and reported them as appropriate to CQC and the local authority and would assist in the investigation when asked to. We did not identify any safeguarding concerns as part of this inspection. There was information around the service advising people how to raise concerns. Where people had recently moved in, the provider had insisted on a gradual process to give the person the best chance of success. Risk assessments were not always in place or had not been reviewed within the Stated timeframe on the risk assessment.

People's needs had bee assessed and we were assured that staff knew people well and were able to communicate their needs effectively. People had received a range of assessments and were supported to access medical professionals. for example lessons had been learnt from a recent incident, and one person was being supported to access the psychiatrist. People's care plans and picture plans were stored within their bedrooms and staff asked for permission from people before accessing the bedrooms. We observed staff working together as a team and communicating with with people. One person at the service was subject to deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLs) and this had all been applied for and granted. Mental capacity assessments were not always completed or in date, but the provider was in the process of completing new care plans that incorporated all the mental capacity assessments.

People told us that they were treated well and loved their home. We found that people's rooms were personalised and staff supported people to make choices for themselves. We found that within the houses people were supported to create personal space and take control of what happened within their home. We found that people were involved in choosing their meals and were supported to cook their own meals. We however did not find any risk assessment around safety in the kitchen. People were supported to access a wide range of activities. A relative told "They always keep the people active and the staff take part as well". Staff told us that sometimes there were incidents of challenging behaviour, but they developed strategies as a team to manage them effectively. We observed good person centred care, however this was not always reflected within the care plans we looked at.

There had been incidents between people at one of the houses, but the service was managing these and the families felt they were informed of safeguarding outcomes. One relative told us “There’s always someone (staff) nearby and there’s sleeping staff at night. And although staff are not always present in the home, “They let her know where they are'. We found that the service had been proactive in working with the GP surgery to review people’s medication where necessary. Our observations were positive with staff responding appropriately to people's needs in a timely manner and providing reassurance.

We found a clear leadership structure with the Service manager and team managers who were present during the site visits. Staff told us that they had regular supervisions and monthly team meetings. We saw evidence of house meetings. External professionals and relatives told us that there was always prompt responses from the management team, and a good working relationship. We found that Support plan documents were not always complete, and there were still documents within the care plans from the previous service manager. Where risk assessments were present, these had not been reviewed within the last 12 months. Within the new support plan documents, safeguards and procedures to mitigate risks had not been effectively captured. We were not always sure the role of the team managers and what training they had been given for their role. The service was in the process of transferring all care plans onto a new template which brought together all people's needs simplified document. The manager told us that work was ongoing to move all documents digital, and shared the digital strategy document for the organisation.