We carried out a review of the data available to us about Avenues London South West on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Avenues London South West, you can give feedback on this service.
Avenues London South West is a supported living service for adults with an autistic spectrum disorder and learning disabilities. This service provides care and support to people living in 19 supported living homes but only 11 of these were providing a regulated activity to people. At the time of the inspection, out of a total number of 45 people, 32 people were receiving personal care.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. There was an open culture which helped people to achieve the outcomes they wanted to. Staff empowered people to make decisions about their care needs. People had support to build and maintain important relationships to them.
Issues we identified during the inspection in relation to records being completed for fire safety checks undertaken had been promptly addressed by the provider. People and their family members were happy with the care delivery and had no concerns about safety. Staff were aware of the safeguarding procedure should they have to apply it suspecting a person to be at risk of abuse. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was effectively used by the staff team. People had support to continue being active during the COVID-19 lockdowns and engage in activities of their choice at home. Risks to people’s safety were identified and a positive pro-active approach to risk taking was applied to encourage people’s independence. The provider followed robust recruitment procedures making sure they employed suitable staff to work with people using the service.
The provider had enrolled staff on learning disabilities training at the time we inspected the service. Staff received training before they started working with people and regularly attended refresher courses to ensure effective care delivery. The provider had an action plan in place to ensure staff were regularly supervised. Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) principles were followed to support people in the decision-making process, making sure their involvement was encouraged. However, some MCA records required updating to ensure all relevant information was appropriately recorded. Where people required support to meet their complex nutritional needs, staff had provided the required care. Healthcare professionals told us how staff worked towards good practice to provide people with person- centred care.
Staff maintained good relationships with people they supported and were kind and understanding towards their care needs. People were involved in their care planning and made choices how they wanted to be supported to celebrate important events to them. Where people chose to have pets, staff helped to look after them. Staff respected people’s right to privacy and diversity.
People’s support plans were personalised to guide staff on how people wanted to be supported. Different aids related to people's communication needs were used to encourage people to take part in conversations. Systems were in place to gather feedback from people and their family members so that information collected could be used to inform the effectiveness of the care delivery.
The management team had worked to promote a positive culture at the service so that people could have a good quality life. Systems were in place to support the service delivery and where a short fall was identified, actions were taken quickly to improve the care provision. Regular audits were carried out to monitor day-to-day running of the service and the quality of service delivery.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the CQC on 1 May 2019.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.