About the service Dimensions Beds, Bucks, Cambs and Luton Domiciliary Care Office is a supported living service providing personal care to people as part of the support they need to live in their own homes. The service supports younger adults and older people with a learning disability and autism.
Not everyone who uses the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we consider any wider social care provided. At this inspection 43 people were receiving personal care.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
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' 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.
Right Support
People had a good quality of life and were fully supported to lead fulfilling lives. Personalised support plans gave clear information for staff to follow in keeping people safe, whilst enabling people to be as independent as possible
Effective systems were in place to closely monitor incidents and prompt action was taken to mitigate the risk of repeat incidents. People were fully involved in managing personal risks and in taking decisions about how to keep safe. Staff were skilled in recognising signs when people experienced emotional distress and knew how to support people to keep them safe.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. People were supported to understand their rights and explore meaningful relationships. People knew how to raise concerns and were confident they would be dealt with properly.
Right Care
The staff team ensured people had full access to healthcare services. People's support plans were personalised. Relatives confirmed their family members were supported to follow their hobbies and interests. One relative said, [Person] has a really good care plan in place, it includes everything we think [Person] loves doing, like swimming.”
Right culture
Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. The service promoted a culture of inclusion, diversity and equality. A relative said, “I know all the staff, I have a brilliant rapport with them. I know they do the job because of their beliefs.”
People were supported to express their individuality. The staff team were caring and dedicated to the people they supported. People had the opportunity to try new experiences, develop new skills and gain independence. Staff supported people to pursue their chosen hobbies and interests and follow their cultural and religious beliefs.
People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of transparency, respect, improvement and inclusivity.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
This service was registered with us on 20 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.