Archived: Flexible Support Options (Stockholm Close)

We visited three people's houses and spoke with the people who lived there. In addition, our expert by experience spoke with five people and their relatives. Our expert by experience stated afterwards that all responses were positive.

One person informed us, 'I enjoy them working with us. Always on time and I have a laugh. When I need help, I get help. When I don't want help, I don't get it. I do what I want for myself.' A relative told us, 'As far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely fine. They do what they're supposed to do. They're very sympathetic to my daughter's needs.'

Where people did not have the capacity to consent, the provider did not always act in accordance with legal requirements.

We found that people's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place.

We concluded that staff did not always receive appropriate training and support for their professional development.

We considered that an effective system was not fully in place to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people using the service and others.

We visited three people's houses and spoke with five people who used the service. We also spoke with four relatives. One relative told us, 'I just can't tell you enough about how brilliant they are.'

The service supported people in four different local authorities, including Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Durham. We spoke with local authority care managers from each of these areas.

We found that people's diversity, values and human rights were respected.

People were happy with their care. One person told us, 'They come in happy and they take me out places that I want to go.' We concluded that people's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plans.

We concluded that people who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

People told us that staff were well trained. We found staff were able to obtain further relevant qualifications and received appropriate professional development.

We found there was a system to assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.