About the service Affinity Trust - West Midlands provides personal care and support to people with learning and physical disabilities who live independently in the community. 98 people used the service at the time of our inspection, 53 of these received personal care. People either lived on their own or with other people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
Overall people received safe and effective care and support. Recent medication errors were being proactively managed to reduce risks. Risks were assessed and managed to enable people to live independent lives. Staff were vigilant to identify risks and take action to ensure people remained safe.
People received support from a consistent staff team who they had helped to recruit. Staff received training relevant to their role and overall had good support from senior managers and colleagues.
People’s needs were assessed and documented to ensure their care needs were met. Care plans were detailed and effective to ensure staff always had access to the most current information. Plans were reviewed regularly as people’s needs changed.
People received appropriate support to eat, drink and prepare meals. People were supported to access healthcare, and other agencies, when required. Staff worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to ensure consistency and ensure people received appropriate and safe support.
Staff were caring and respectful, promoting people’s privacy, dignity and independence.
Staff sought people’s consent before supporting them and decisions about people’s care and treatment were made in line with law and guidance
People’s care was responsive to their changing needs. People, and their relatives, were involved in the assessment and planning of their care this joint working meant people’s needs were met fully. People knew how to raise a concern and always felt listened to. Information was available in different formats to make it accessible.
People felt the service was well managed. People, and staff, had regular opportunities to share their views about the service. Overall staff felt well supported and usually listened to when they shared feedback. The provider carried out audits to ensure the quality of care provided and created an ethos of learning from mistakes and constantly improving
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected:
This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published July 2016).
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.