This inspection took place on 30 August 2017 and 1 September 2017. We last inspected the service on 13 July 2015 when we rated the service Outstanding.

Avenues South East Services (referred to as Avenues in this report) provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in Kent, Medway and Surrey. The service supports adults and young people; over the age of nine, who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health needs. It supports people with complex health needs; however it does not provide nursing care. The support provided aims to enable people to live as independently as possible. Most people using the service previously lived in residential care homes. The service supported people to move to either supported living services or their own homes so that they could live more independently with support from Avenues. In some cases where people required supported living accommodation the registered manager had led projects with the housing provider to design accommodation that was innovative and met people’s individual needs. Many people the service supported had previously challenged traditional services and required bespoke and flexible support packages. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 63 people.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the care and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager of this service oversaw the running of the full service and was supported by area managers who were allocated a geographical area to manage. Service managers ran individual parts of the service, for example support to people in a support living service or support to young people.

People and relatives were overwhelmingly positive about the service they received. Comments included, “Staff go the extra mile to ensure our son is safe” and “The people who work with him care about him. They make improvements to his life.” Other comments included, “The standard of care is very close to home, that’s the best compliment I can pay them” and “They are almost unrecognisable in their independence since being supported by Avenues.”

The service provided outstanding care and support to people enabling them to live fulfilled lives. The registered manager ensured that people were safe, whilst allowing them to take risks that enabled them to live independently. The service had gone the extra mile to work with housing providers to ensure people had appropriate supported accommodation. They had an innovative approach to the use of assistive technology to enable people to be as independent as possible. The registered manager had initiated and led projects to help people move from residential services, where they had previously required constant staff supervision, to allow them more privacy and independence in their own homes or supported living services.

Staff were skilled at meeting people’s individual needs and enabling them to achieve their potential regardless of their disability or age. Staff were committed to promoting the rights of the people they supported and frequently helped people to challenge discrimination. People had positive relationships with their support staff who knew them well and supported them to live interesting lives. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs and people were busy and engaged with their communities. They were supported to make and maintain friendships and relationships that were important to them. There was a strong emphasis on person centred care. People were supported to plan their support and they received a service that was based on their personal ne

This inspection took place on 13, 14 and 15 July 2015. We gave short notice of the inspection because the manager was often out of the office supporting staff and the people using the service were often out at their daily activities. We needed to be sure that they would be available to speak with us.

We last inspected the service on 6 February 2014 when it was registered at a different address. At this time the service was meeting the requirements of the regulations.

Avenues South East Services provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in Kent, Medway and Surrey. The service supports adults and young people; over the age of nine, who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health needs. It supports people with complex health needs, however it does not provide nursing care. The support provided aims to enable people to live as independently as possible.

Most people using the service previously lived in residential care homes. The service supported people to move to either supported living services or their own homes so that they could live more independently. Where people are living in supported living services the registered manager lead projects with the housing providers to design accommodation that was innovative and met people’s individual needs. Many people the service supports had previously challenged traditional services and require bespoke and flexible support packages.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 84 people.

The offices are located in Underriver near Sevenoaks and are wheelchair accessible.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the care and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager of this service oversees the running of the full service and is supported by area managers who are allocated a geographical area to manage. Service managers run individual parts of the service, for example support to people in a support living unit or support to young people.

The service provided outstanding care and support to people enabling them to live fulfilled and meaningful lives. Staff were skilled at ensuring people were safe whilst encouraging them to challenge their potential and live independent lives. People and relatives were overwhelmingly positive about the service they received. Comments included “Couldn’t wish for a better service”, “She’s doing things she would never have dreamed of” and “It’s an amazing service.”

The service had an innovative approach to the use of assistive technology to enable people to be as independent as possible. They had initiated and led projects to help people move from residential services, where they had previously required constant staff supervision, to allow them more privacy and independence in their own homes or supported living services. Staff were available and easily accessible nearby. Staff and managers had an excellent understanding of managing risks and had supported people that had previously challenged services to reach their full potential.

The registered manager ensured that staff had a full understanding of people’s support needs and had the skills and knowledge to meet them. Staff were positive about the support they received from their managers. They were encouraged to be reflective in their practice and strive to improve.

People had positive relationships with their support staff who knew them well and used their shared interests to help people live interesting lives. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs and people were busy and engaged with their communities. They were supported to make and maintain friendships and relationships that were important to them.

There was a strong emphasis on person centred care. People were supported to plan their support and they received a service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. The service was flexible and responded positively to changes in people’s needs.

People were able to express their opinions and views and they were encouraged and supported to have their voices heard within their local and wider community. They played an active role in the running of the service and the organisation. They were enabled to promote links within the community that improved their own lives and the lives of the wider community of people with disabilities.

The registered manager demonstrated strong values and a desire to learn about and implement best practice throughout the service. Staff were very highly motivated and proud of the service. The service had developed and sustained effective links with organisations that helped them develop best practice in the service. The registered manager used effective systems to continually monitor the quality of the service and had ongoing plans for improving the service people received.