During an assessment under our new approach
Date of Assessment: 29 May – 9 June 2025. The service provides care at home; providing support to older and younger adults, people with physical disabilities, people living with dementia and children with learning and/or physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 14 adults and children who were in receipt of the regulated activity, personal care. 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.
During this assessment, we identified a breach of regulation in good governance. At our last inspection, we found the provider had made improvements to records and governance, but improvements needed time to be fully embedded in practices. At this assessment we found some improvements had been sustained but there was no systematic approach to plan to identify and maintain on-going improvements. Limited audits and quality checks had been implemented which meant the provider did not have a holistic picture of what needed to be done going forward. Although staff told us they felt supported by the provider, there was a lack of up-to-date guidance in relation to people’s care needs, and risks associated with these, and records were not updated when changes were made to people’s care. People and their relatives told us, although they were fully involved in decisions about their care, they were not involved in developing their care records and were unsure of the content of their care plans. There was a lack of monitoring regarding how best practice and the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) were put into practice, including best interest processes. The provider responded promptly to these concerns and gave assurances regarding how improvements would be made and sustained going forward.
Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and felt supported within their roles. Staff demonstrated they clearly understood the provider’s values of providing personalised care. People were supported by a consistent staff team who had the right skills, qualifications and experience to meet their needs. Staff understood and managed risks to keep people safe, including assisting people with medicines.People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and were encouraged to maintain relationships with family and friends. Staff responded to people in a timely way. The provider supported staff wellbeing. Leaders and staff worked with people, their families and other agencies to enable people to achieve the best possible outcomes from their care.