- Homecare service
Access for Living
Assessment report published 30 April 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 19 November and 20 November 2024. Access for Living is a supported living service which provides personal care to autistic people and people with a learning disability living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 16 people were receiving support with personal care. We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. The provider was in breach of legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, good governance and failure to notify. We identified some issues with medicine management, we raised this with the registered manager, and they took prompt action to address the concerns and sent evidence of improvement following the site visit. We also identified some fire evacuation plans showed some people would not be able to be evacuated by staff in an emergency. The provider is liaising with London Fire Brigade to assess these risks. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment. People and their relatives were involved in the assessment and ongoing review of their needs. People’s communication, personal and health needs were considered and person-centred plans put in place to meet these. People were treated with kindness and compassion by well trained staff that knew them well. People were supported to identify and attend activities in line with their personal preferences and interests. People's independence was promoted and they were supported to work towards long-term goals and aspirations. Leaders and care staff ensured people led confident, inclusive and empowered lives. The provider worked in partnership with other health and social care professionals.
People's experience of this service
During the visits to the supported living services, we spoke with people and carried out observations of their care and support. We also made calls to people’s relatives as many people could not directly tell us about their experience of the care they received. People and their relatives were positive about the quality of their care they received and the caring and compassionate attitudes of the staff team. They told us staff respected and catered for their needs and preferences. The service provided lots of interesting activities to keep people physically and mentally active. People also told us they were given many opportunities to engage with staff and leaders and give feedback about their care.