Ansar Projects

Updated 1 April 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in their own homes, 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 5 January 2023 and ended on the 12 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on the 5 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited 1 person in their own home and met with 5 other people who used the service. We spoke with 5 members of staff, including support workers, senior support worker, community support leader and the registered manager. We also spoke with 2 relatives and received written feedback from 2 health and social care professionals.

We looked at the care and support records of 3 people. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service including service improvement plans, the oversight of incidents, staff meeting minutes, rotas, training records, and 3 staff files.

Updated 1 April 2023

About the service

Ansar Projects provides care and support to people with learning disabilities and autistic people living in their own homes and community support to people who live at home with their families. At the time of our inspection the service was delivering personal care to 23 people. Some people lived in their own home and some people house shared with up to two other people. Where staff slept in to ensure people were safe overnight, they had a private space to do so in people's spare rooms. Staff did not have allocated space that people could not access in their homes. Staff worked in teams focussed on the support of individual people.

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.

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.

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

Right Support:

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.

The staff worked collaboratively with people, their families and professionals to ensure they had maximum choice about where they lived and who they lived with. Where people had not yet secured appropriate housing, the provider was able to offer community support which alleviated pressure from people and their families along with providing a more thorough transition to support people’s understanding of change and lessen anxieties.

The provider sought opportunities for people to have their say by creating a group where people could meet and discuss topics of their choice. This empowered people to increase their knowledge and make suggestions for improvements which enabled them to be in control of most aspects of their day to day life.

People were supported to achieve their goals and aspirations. Staff worked collaboratively with others to give people the opportunity to pursue their interests, increase their knowledge and share this with others. This meant people were living fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Staff supported people to take an active role in maintaining their own health. The provider had teamed up with national charities to create a series of accessible resources for people to ‘know their body.’ These resources encouraged health equality for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

Right Care:

Staff were respectful. They respected people's differences and promoted equality. Accessible resources were produced to be trans-inclusive which promoted a positive culture against stigma and discrimination.

People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives. Additionally, people had created videos to inform and inspire others which they shared on social media.

People were championed to make decisions about their care and support. Accessible information and ‘friendly forms’ were in place to aid knowledge and understanding which enabled people to be in control.

Staff supported people consistently and knew their individual communication needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because they were receiving consistent support from regular staff.

Right Culture:

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of management and staff. The management structure had been created to support the organisation's ethos and values.

The management team reviewed the day to day culture and worked towards the goal of ensuring staff followed the service’s values and felt proud to work in the organisation.

Inclusivity was a strong and embedded value that staff promoted. People had formed strong community links and staff worked hard to strengthen relationships beyond the organisation.

The management team worked in partnership with key organisations, including the local authority, safeguarding teams and integrated care boards which supported positive outcomes for people.

Staff were extremely well supported and valued. This reduced staff turnover which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 28 January 2021 and this is the first inspection as the service was previously registered under a different legal entity. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 21 February 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out as there has been a change to the provider of the service since the last inspection.

Follow up

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