The Dispensary

Updated 8 May 2025

Date of assessment: 23 July to 4 August 2025.

The Dispensary is a care home providing accommodation personal and nursing care to a maximum of 5 people with a learning disability or autism. At the time of our visit, 3 young adults were using the service.

This was the first rated inspection of the service. A registered manager was in place. The registered manager is registered with the Commission and is legally responsible to ensure that the service is compliant with legal and regulatory requirements.

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. We found the provider was meeting the values of ‘Right support, right care, right culture.’ People were supported to express their views and opinions in various ways. People had different ways of communicating and staff understood how best to share information for people to make their own choices and decisions.

The Dispensary was well-led. The provider's vision and values were truly person-centred to make sure people were at the heart of the service. This vision was driven by the leadership of the registered manager. The provider, registered manager and staff team were passionate about people's well-being and went above and beyond to help people achieve their goals and aspirations by building their confidence and breaking down barriers to increase independence.

The staff team supported some people with complex needs. There was clear evidence of collaborative working and excellent communication with other professionals to help meet people's needs. People were encouraged and supported to lead as fulfilled a life as possible. They were supported to follow their dreams and aspirations. Staff had facilitated people to participate in numerous activities and interests which enhanced their quality of life. The provider, registeredmanager and staff team were passionate about people's well-being and went above and beyond to help people achieve their goals and aspirations by building their confidence and breaking down barriers to increase independence. Relatives and professionals described how people received excellent personalised care and support that was tailored to people’s needs and preferences.

The service was flexible and adapted to people's changing needs and wishes and promoted their independence. Care was completely centred and tailored to each individual. There were examples of significant improvements to the well-being of people due to the person-centred care they received. Risk assessments were in place, and they identified current risks to the person as well as ways for staff to minimise or appropriately manage those risks, including positive risk taking.

People's diversity as unique individuals with their own needs was well-respected by staff. The staff team knew people extremely well and provided support discreetly and with compassion. People’s privacy was respected, and people were supported to maintain contact with relatives and friends.
Staffing capacity was sufficient and staff deployment was effective to ensure people's needs were met in a safe, timely, person-centred and consistent way. Systems were in place for people to receive their medicines in a safe way. Staff were encouraged to continue their professional development in order to progress and provide the best outcomes for people. Staff demonstrated that they really understood the importance and benefits of providing person-centred care.

The culture of the service was extremely friendly, open and transparent where people's and staff voices were listened to in order to continually improve the quality of care. People, relatives and staff were confident about approaching the registered manager if they needed to. They recognised that their views and feedback were valued and respected and consistently used to support quality service development.The registered manager and provider were continually developing the service to meet and maximise people's outcomes. Effective auditing systems were in place.

Updated 8 May 2025

The service was exceptionally caring and had an emphasis on caring for people as individuals. Relatives and professionals told us how extremely caring and supportive the staff were.People said they were happy living at the service. A person commented, “I like living here.” A relative commented, “[Name] likes to get back there when they have been away.” We observed people to be content and relaxed whilst being supported by the staff team. Staff support had a very positive impact on people’s lives. People were supported to maintain or increase their independence and health and were supported to achieve their dreams and aspirations and try new social interests and activities. Relatives told us they felt listened to and consulted when planning and agreeing how care and support should be provided.Staff supported people to have a full and active life in line with their preferences and choices about how they liked to spend their time. A professional told us, “The staff really know the service users who live there, and what is important to them. It is clear that they have built up positive working relationships with the service users’ families as well.” As a result of the support people had, they experienced very positive outcomes. They were supported to increase their independence in a lot of areas, become a part of their community and follow new and favoured past times. People were supported to be fully in control of their support and make choices in all areas of their lives. A professional commented, “Staff have a nice relationship with the young person I work with. They are really encouraging and nurturing and respectful of [Name]’s decisions.”