Aim Up

Updated 26 November 2024

Date of Assessment: 2 January to 6 February 2025. We carried out this assessment in response to concerns received in relation to the service. Aim Up is registered for providing domiciliary care and supported living services. We looked at the supported living provision. This means personal care provided to people who live in supported living households. The service supports adults living with a learning disability and autism, disabilities, complex behaviour needs and health conditions. Fifteen people were supported with their personal care needs.

We assessed the service under the safe key question and 4 quality statements of the well led key question. We assessed 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 2 breaches of regulation in relation to statutory notification of incidents and good governance. The overall service rating declined from good to requires improvement.

The service manager and nominated individual had been in post for around 6 months. Most of the concerns we identified were already known to the provider and the service had an action plan to address them. In some areas such as risk related to the environment, records of people’s care, aspects of the medicine management and policies and procedures, the shortfalls had not yet been identified by the provider.

Staff understood and managed risks regarding people’s individual risks, personal and health needs.

When making our judgement we took into account the progress made to date, however further time was needed for the actions in the service’s improvement plans to be fully embedded and sustained to be able to judge their effectiveness and impact on the quality of care people received.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 26 November 2024

People were positive about the care they received. They felt safe and were able to speak to staff if they had any concerns. One person spoke to us with pride about the progress they had made in the short time they had been supported by the service. Another person told us they are able to direct their care as they want it. Relatives gave us mixed feedback in relation to people’s safety. One relative told us they didn’t feel their loved one was safe. We also had some concerns shared in relation to the care and support people received. While other relatives gave positive feedback in relation to the care and support offered to people. Some relatives told us communication was an area which required improvement We also received some positive comments about the new management structure. One relative of a person who required a high level of support told us they had “Improved massively. It is down to the care she has received, the best care team she has ever had.” We received concerns from 1 professional who felt the service lacked the skills required to meet the need of some people. They felt staff knowledge and proactiveness of supporting people with more complex needs was poor. Another professional shared concerns about the environment and cleanliness and that the service did not share incidents with them in a timely manner. We discussed the concerns shared in relation to some people at length with the service manager. The management team were aware of concerns, and this was evident from their records. The service manager and nominated individual discussed with us the actions they were taking in relation to these. Additional assurances were provided by 1 person’s social worker. During our visit, we observed 2 staff supporting a person in a gentle, supportive manner, using simple labels and language and environmental cues.