Integrated Family Support is a care agency that provides support workers to undertake personal and supportive care for children and young adults with learning and / or physical disabilities. The service is based in North London and provides support to a small number of families in Hertfordshire.

This is the first inspection of the agency since registration in April 2016 and the inspection took place on 12 December 2016.

At the time of our inspection a registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

From the feedback the agency received from families using the service and health and social care professionals we found that there was usually a good and high degree of satisfaction with the way the service worked with children / young adults and their families.

People who used the service, children and young adults, had a variety of complex support needs and from the three care plans that we looked at we found that the information and guidance provided to staff was clear. Any risks associated with people’s care needs were assessed, and the action needed to mitigate against risks was recorded. We found that risk assessments were updated regularly and this included those risks associated with complex care needs.

During our review of care plans we found that these were tailored to children / young adult’s individual needs, this was being done in close cooperation with their families. Communication methods of providing care and support with the appropriate guidance for each person’s needs were in place and regularly reviewed.

We looked at the training records for all staff employed by the agency. We saw that in all cases, core training had been undertaken and the type of specialised training they required was tailored to the needs of the particular children / young people they were supporting. Staff supervision was taking place regularly and appraisals were undertaken annually.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and worked in ways which demonstrated this. From the feedback we viewed that the agency had received we found that people’s preferences had been recorded. Staff focused on respecting these preferences for both children or young adults.