Autism Care (Lincoln)

Updated 11 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 21 December 2022 and ended on 10 January 2023. We visited the service on 28 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we visited the supported living setting and spoke with the person who receives support. We also spoke with a team leader, 2 care workers, the deputy manager and the area manager for the service. We reviewed a range of records including the person's support plan, risk assessments and medicine administration chart. We looked at 5 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at records relating to staff deployment, quality assurance and the provider’s policy statements.

After the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, a team leader and a support worker by telephone. We continued to seek clarification from the provider and registered manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 11 February 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people 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

About the service

Autism Care (Lincoln) is a supported living service providing personal care to people who live in their own home. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection there was one person receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right support:

People were supported by staff who knew them well and who promoted their independence.

People were fully involved in making decisions about the support they received and worked with staff to reduce their experience of distress in order to keep safe.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to maintain and develop meaningful relationships with people who mattered to them.

Right Care:

People received warm and compassionate support and developed trusting relationships with staff.

Support was personalised and promoted people’s individuality and human rights. Support plans reflected people’s strengths and life goals.

Staff were trained and understood how to support to people to stay safe from harm or abuse.

Right culture:

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of managers and staff ensured people led confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Staff promoted equality and diversity when supporting people.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the services provided and a culture of improvement was embedded in the service.

People and staff had opportunities to give feedback about the service and contribute their ideas for improvement. They felt listened to and were confident that any issues would be resolved in the right way.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 3 November 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was planned inspection following registration.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.