About the service Dimensions Somerset Taunton Domiciliary Care Office provides care and support to people with learning disabilities and autistic people who live in their own homes. It is registered to provide personal care. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 28 people. Some people lived in their own home; other people housed shared. Where staff slept in to ensure people were safe overnight, they had a private space to do so in a spare bedroom.
In 'supported living' settings people's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support.
CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.
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 were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had fulfilling and meaningful lives. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and hobbies.
Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.
Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.
Right Care
Staff spoke respectfully about people and treated them with compassion. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people's individual needs.
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.
People's care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing.
People led busy lives and pursued interests which were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new things; this enhanced and enriched their lives.
Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take risks.
Right culture
There was a clear ethos for the service. Staff knew and understood people and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing.
People received good quality care and support because trained staff and other specialists could meet their needs and wishes.
People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate care that was tailored to their needs.
The provider evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their relatives and other professionals as appropriate.
There was an emphasis on improving people's services wherever possible. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people's views.
Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 24 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.