Avenue Road

Updated 14 September 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting so 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered. 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.

During the inspection

We observed interactions between people and staff to help us understand their experiences of receiving care and support at the service. We spoke with six people using the service, the regional manager, the registered manager and four staff members. We also spoke with three family members. We looked at records which included care records for four people, three staff files, medicines records and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 14 September 2022

About the service

Avenue Road provides personal care for people who live in supported living accommodation. The people who use the service have a range of needs including people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection nine people were using the service living in one supported living setting. People rented their room from a private landlord and used shared facilities such as a kitchen and living room. 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. Five people received personal care.

This service was previously registered with the Care Management Group. The current provider took over the management and operation of the service in November 2020.

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

The service was highly person centred. Staff focused on supporting people to live their best lives through offering people choices and opportunities. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and to achieve their aspirations and goals with exceptional results. People told us they thought the support they received to achieve their aspirations and goals was outstanding. Staff went above and beyond to empower people to access specialist health and social care support in the community and people experienced exceptional outcomes as a result. Staff actively encouraged people to be as independent as they could be and have control over their own lives. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity and understood and responded to individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

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 26 November 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last overall rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 20 August 2019.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of right support, right care, right culture. This was a planned first inspection following registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Follow up

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