During an assessment under our new approach
An assessment has been undertaken of a specialist service that is used by autistic people or people with a learning disability. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability 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.
Advance Essex and East London provides personal care and support to people who require assistance in their own home. This service is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of our assessment 3 people were being supported by the service. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. We carried out our on-site responsive assessment on 31 March 2025, offsite activity started on 20 March 2024 and ended on 22 April 2025. This assessment was announced. This is the first assessment of the service.
We found a breach of the legal regulation in relation to good governance. Governance systems and audits were not effective in identifying or addressing areas for improvement. We have made a recommendation about staff recruitment and end of life wishes. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.