We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Kent Autistic Trust - 14 High Street on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about The Kent Autistic Trust - 14 High Street, you can give feedback on this service.
The Kent Autistic Trust – 14 High Street is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats and supported environments.
The Kent Autistic Trust – 14 High Street provides care and support to people living in five ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. 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.
The service had two supported living properties in Strood, one in Chatham and one in Brompton, all of which are in Medway, Kent. In these premises people had their own flats. There were offices on site and communal spaces where people and staff could come together. The service also had a Canterbury supported living service. This had a selection of self-contained flats on the upper floor and a large ground floor flat which three people shared. They each had their own bedrooms, but shared the kitchen, dining room, lounge, laundry and the garden. There was an office on site.
Not everyone using The Kent Autistic Trust – 14 High Street receives regulated activity; 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. The service was providing personal care to 11 people diagnosed with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder at the time of the inspection.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
People’s experience of using this service:
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways; staff recognised that people had the capacity to make day to day choices and supported them to do so. People were encouraged and supported to be independent. People were engaging in the community, for example utilising their local community to utilise ordinary community resources, shops, access courses, access day services and activities to ensure they had a good day. People were also supported to take holidays both in the UK and abroad.
The provider and staff were exceptionally responsive and worked continuously to make improvements to the service and provide people with high quality care. The provider and staff demonstrated a detailed knowledge of the people they supported and over time had developed trusting relationships with them, so that people felt safe receiving support. The provider had been extremely responsive to people’s needs and designed services specifically to meet people’s changing needs. People were happy and smiling, relatives were very happy with the service. One relative said, “I can’t praise them enough, they do a wonderful job.”
The service was well-led. The management team knew people very well, the registered managers and assistant managers spent time on shift working with people and staff. The management team carried out the appropriate checks to ensure that the quality of the service was continuously reviewed, improved and evolved to meet people’s changing needs. The provider promoted an open culture and was a visible presence in the service, staff felt supported by the provider and the registered managers, they felt listened to and valued. Relatives were surveyed for their views and felt these were acted upon. The provider had a strong set of values that were embedded into each staff member's practice and the way the service was managed. Staff were committed and proud of the service.
Staff were well trained and received consistent support and guidance. For people, this meant that they were always placed at the heart of decisions about the way in which they received support.
People received a safe service and were protected from harm, staff had a detailed understanding of individual risks and danger for each person. They understood the measures in place to keep them safe. People were supported by enough staff with the right skills and knowledge to understand their needs and provide support in a person-centred way. The provider took care in their selection of staff, and all required checks helped ensure they were recruited safely.
People were involved in food shopping, planning their menu and where possible the preparation of food and cooking. People were encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible. Where people were unable to cope with completing their food shopping in busy supermarkets they were supported to put a shopping list together and to shop on the internet. People were supported to access routine and specialist healthcare appointments when they needed to.
The service continued to provide effective and safe support to people living with a learning disability and or autism. People were provided with good support to communicate, staff knew people well and understood their communication. People were supported to manage their emotions and had positive behaviour support strategies in place. Relatives told us that they had seen a positive change in their loved ones. People were supported to feedback on their experiences and contribute to planning their own support in ways which were suitable for their communication needs. For example, through using pictures, stories, signing and electronic communication.
Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. Staff communicated well with relatives and welcomed them into the service, and sought their feedback about the service, which relatives felt was listened to an acted upon.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Support plans guided staff in the support they provided to people in accordance with their needs and preferences. People were provided with an individualised care and support as well as activities both in their homes and in the community to keep them occupied and stimulated.
The service met the characteristics of Outstanding in one area and Good overall. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good when we inspected on 30 June 2016 (the report was published on 19 August 2016).
Why we inspected:
This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on previous rating.
Follow up:
We will visit the service again in the future to check if they are changes to the quality of the service.
The Kent Autistic Trust - 14 High Street is a supported living scheme for adults with an autistic spectrum condition. The service provides personal care and support for people living in self-contained flats in Chatham and Strood. The Kent Autistic Trust - 14 High Street provides personal care and for four people who are living in the community. Staff provided assistance to people such as washing and dressing, preparing food and drinks, administering medicines and helping people maintain their health and wellbeing.
Management of the service was overseen by a board of trustees for The Kent Autistic Trust. Trustees and the chief executive officer for the trust visited the supported living schemes regularly.
The service had a registered manager and a manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The manager was in the process of applying to become a registered manager so that each of the support living schemes would have a registered manager.
People were unable to verbally tell us about their experiences. People were relaxed around the staff and in their own home. We received positive feedback from relatives about all aspects of the service.
Staff knew and understood how to safeguard people from abuse, they had attended training, and there were effective procedures in place to keep people safe from abuse and mistreatment.
Risks to people had been identified. Systems had been put in place to enable people to carry out activities safely with support.
Medicines were appropriately managed to ensure that people received their medicines as prescribed. Records were clear and the administration and management of medicines was properly documented.
Staff and people received additional support and guidance from the behaviour support manager when there had been incidents of heightened anxiety. Staff received regular support and supervision from the management team.
There were suitable numbers of staff on shift to meet people’s needs. The provider followed safe recruitment procedures to ensure that staff working with people were suitable for their roles. Robust recruitment procedures were followed to make sure that only suitable staff were employed.
Procedures and guidance in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was in place which included steps that staff should take to comply with legal requirements. Staff had supported people to understand decisions that needed to be made with regard to their health, which had enabled them to make an informed decision about treatment.
People were supported to prepare and cook food that met their needs and records evidenced that people made choices in relation to their food and drinks.
People received medical assistance from healthcare professionals when they needed it. Staff knew people well and recognised when people were not acting in their usual manner and took appropriate action.
Relatives told us that staff were kind, caring and communicated well with them. Interactions between people and staff were positive and caring.
People and their relatives had been involved with planning their own care. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. People’s information was treated confidentially and personal records were stored securely.
People’s views and experiences were sought during meetings and by completing questionnaires.
People were encouraged to take part in activities that they enjoyed, this included activities in their homes and in the local community. People were supported to be as independent as possible.
The complaints procedure was on display within the foyer of the supported living scheme and this was also available in an easy read format to support people’s communication needs.
Relatives and staff told us that the service was well run. Staff were positive about the support they received from the senior managers within the organisation. They felt they could raise concerns and they would be listened to.
Communication between staff within the service was good. They were made aware of significant events and any changes in people’s behaviour. Handovers between staff going off shift and those coming on shift were documented, they were detailed and thorough.
The provider and registered manager had notified CQC about important events such as safeguarding concerns these had been submitted to CQC in a timely manner.
Audit systems were in place to ensure that care and support met people’s needs and that the service was suitable for people. Actions arising from audits had been dealt with quickly.
Relatives said that staff respected people's privacy and dignity, involved them in people's care and treatment plans and helped them to maintain their independence. One person told us, 'Staff are natural with her/him and genuinely love him/her'; another person told us, 'Staff are helpful and always there for him/her'.
The service was person centred, as it was developed around the individual needs of the person who used the service. For example, one person, with no verbal communication, used a supermarket application on their IPad to express their preferences about what they would like to eat.
Staff understood the principles of infection control and how to put them into practice which ensured that people's homes were clean.
People's needs had been assessed to ensure that there were enough staff on duty at all times.
There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and to gain and act on the views of people who used the service. People's views were listened to and acted upon. For example, one person asked for a male member of staff and they were provided with one.
Clear guidance was in place for staff to follow to meet people's individual needs. People told us that staff had the right skills and experience to support the people in their care. One person told us, 'They do a fantastic job. I could not fault them'.
The service asked the views of people who use the service on a regular basis. The results of the survey in 2012 were that everyone was satisfied with the level of care that they received. Comments included, 'I want to stay here, I have nice and a nice flat'; and 'I think that KAT Trust do a wonderful job and she has never been so happy and well kept.