The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated 142 St Marks Road, a supported living service in Middlesex as outstanding following an inspection in September.
142 St Marks Road, run by Marcus & Marcus Limited, provides care and support to people living in their own homes. They provide specialist support and personal care to people with a learning disability, autistic people and people with mental health needs. At the time of this inspection there were 112 people being supported with personal care, living in 41 different properties.
As well as the service’s overall rating rising from good to outstanding, its ratings for how effective, caring, responsive and well-led it is, have also risen from good to outstanding. It was again rated good for being safe.
Rebecca Bauers, CQC’s director for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said:
“When we inspected 142 St Marks Road, we were delighted to find an exceptionally person-centred service, where the individual needs of each person were the central focus of their care.
“Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do rather than what they couldn’t. This meant people had fulfilling everyday lives and were given opportunities for new experiences. We saw staff empowering people to be independent in maintaining their health and wellbeing, especially when it came to their medication.
“Before starting care and support, staff did a detailed check of what people needed. Staff, professionals and family members told us this personalised care had really improved people's lives. It has led to people being in distress much less often and enabled them to have more involvement in their community and in activities that make them happy.
“It was really special to see how invested staff and the service were in people’s long-term wellbeing. For example, we saw a young autistic person who also had severe learning disabilities, with a history of showing distressed behaviour. After two years of intensive support and intervention, this person has significantly grown in confidence, self-reliance, and is much better equipped to handle sensory inputs and solve problems independently.
“We also saw another person who is passionate about buses and trains, previously needed support from 3 staff to travel. Staff helped the person with social stories and regular communication over a long period of time, and now the person regularly enjoys bus and train rides with significantly less assistance.
“All of the staff at 142 St Marks Road should be really proud of the service they’ve created. Other service providers should look at our report to see if there’s anything they can learn to promote improvements across the sector to support people to lead their best lives.”
Inspectors also found:
- Staff supported people to express their views and actively participate in their care decisions. One person told inspectors they felt really strong they were able to decide what they wanted to do
- Staff recognised signs when people experienced emotional distress and knew how to support them to stay safe, without restricting their freedom
- Staff worked with people and their support networks to monitor their progress and overcome challenges in their lives
- Staffing levels were adjusted to suit the needs and choices of people using the service, rather than what was convenient for staff
- Staff demonstrated effective skills in communication and behavioural support strategies
- The service made reasonable adjustments so people could be fully involved in discussions about how they received support.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.