Havencare Cornwall

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ (RSRCRC) is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. This guidance was reviewed as part of this assessment.

We assessed safe, caring and well-led and found areas for improvement. We identified a breach of the regulations in relation to governance.

Havencare Cornwall is a supported living service. Some people were living in hub settings. This was accommodation supported by a central ‘hub’. Staffing arrangements were built around the hub with some staff providing direct support at set times and others providing hub support which people could access as and when they needed it. Other people lived in homes which were directly supported by the staff on shift. Most of the identified concerns were in relation to the hub services. Support in one hub was provided by more than one agency. This had not always worked well, communication between the different staff teams was not effective and staffing shortages in other agencies impacted on staffing arrangements for Havencare Cornwall. A restructuring of management in the hubs had impacted negatively on staff morale and their confidence in leaders. Staff told us they did not always feel able to speak up or that their voices were heard. Feedback from staff, people and relatives in smaller services was positive. People were clearly valued and encouraged to develop their independence and lead full lives.