Autism Plus

Updated 2 October 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the registered provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection included visits to the agency’s office on 23, 24 and 29 August 2018. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it provides a service domiciliary care and supported living support to people. We needed to be sure that someone would be in the office. One adult social care inspector carried out the inspection.

To help us to plan and identify areas to focus on in the inspection we considered all the information we held about the service. This including notifications submitted to us by the registered provider, and information gained from people who had contacted CQC to share feedback about the service. A Provider Information Return (PIR) had been sent to the registered provider for completion. This was returned within the timescale requested. The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We requested the views of other agencies that worked with the service, such as the local authority commissioners, a specialist nurse and two social workers who had ongoing involvement with people who used the service. The feedback we received is reflected in and informed our report.

During our inspection we also met 10 people who used the service, some at their homes and others in their work environments. We spoke with staff and managers of Autism Plus including the four registered managers, two team leaders, several support workers, the nominated individual, two area managers, the head of Human Resources and the Occupational Therapist (OT) who is employed by the service.

We looked at documentation relating to people who used the service, the staff and the management of the service. We checked two people’s care and support records including their person-centred plans, risk assessments, health and day to day records. We looked at three staff files, which included recruitment, training and support records.

Updated 2 October 2018

Autism Plus provides personal care to people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder living in the community in the Doncaster area. Support packages are flexible and based on people’s assessed needs. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 40 people.

This is an established service, which has supported people for a number of years. Recently, several small homes run by the registered provider and previously registered as residential homes, had been reorganised and reregistered, as supported living settings. This had increased the number of services managed by this ‘care at home’ service.

The service provides care and support to people living in their own homes and to people living in shared, ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live in their own home 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. Personal care means help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 23, 24 and 29 August 2018. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides services in people’s home and we needed to be sure that someone would be at the office.

At the last inspection in August 2016 the service was rated good. You can read the report from our last inspections, by selecting the 'all reports' link for ‘Autism Plus’ on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

At this inspection we found that evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

There were four registered managers in post, covering three geographical areas. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People’s rights and choices and a positive approach to risk taking were promoted. This meant people could lead fulfilled lives. Staff were trained in safeguarding (protecting people who use care services from abuse) and knew what to do if they were concerned about the welfare of any person who used the service. People were safely supported with their medicines. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs and the registered provider had recently undertaken work to make sure staff recruitment checks were more robust.

The service supported people to maintain a healthy diet and people who required the involvement of health care professionals were assisted to obtain this. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service. They received support, training and supervision to help them to carry out their support role effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People said they were treated with care, respect and dignity, and staff supported them in a way which met their needs. People’s care and support was exceptionally personalised and this meant that people were at the centre of their care. We saw evidence that people’s care and support was planned and reviewed with them.

It was evident that staff worked hard to provide people with the support they needed to have a good and active lifestyle that suited their individual and cultural needs. Staff were committed to the promotion of people’s rights and supported people’s diverse needs. People were supported to follow their interests and take part in activities they liked and that were socially and culturally relevant and appropriate to them. They received support to have access to the wider community, adult education and paid and voluntary work.

There was an effective and accessible complaints procedure. Additionally, people’s views were actively sought and they were encouraged to comment and influence how the service operated. People, and those who were important to them, were routinely consulted about their satisfaction in the service they received. People’s comments and ideas were used to develop and improve the service. There was an effective system to monitor the quality of service delivery and of staff performance. The quality of the care and support people received was continually kept under review.

The culture and ethos within the service was that of choice, rights and empowerment for people. This was achieved by encouraging people’s involvement and ensuring they had access to information which supported and promoted their equality, diversity and human rights. Best practice guidelines were followed and staff were committed to the vision and values of the service. They had a comprehensive understanding of the legislation and policies that underpinned the approach of the service to people’s care and support.

Further information is in the detailed findings in the full version of the report.