L'Arche support people with a learning disability across a variety of housing situations – shared houses, individual flats, and small care homes. L’Arche (Preston) supports people who are tenants within the building with domiciliary care. Support is provided 24 hours a day. There is access to the building for wheelchair users. Car parking facilities are available. At the time of the inspection visit there were four people living as tenants who used the service.

This was the first inspection since L’Arche was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The registered manager had procedures in place to minimise the potential risk of abuse or unsafe care. Staff spoken with were able to identify the different types of abuse and had received training in safeguarding adults. We confirmed this by talking with staff and the management team.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people. These had been kept under review and were relevant to support and care provided.

People who used the service had their medicines administered in a safe manner and they received their medicines on time. Staff had received related training to ensure medicines were administered correctly by trained staff.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with complex needs and promote their independence.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

We found people had access to health and social care professionals and their healthcare needs were met.

Care plans were organised and had identified care and support people required. We found they were informative about support and what care people had received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary to reflect people’s changing needs.

We observed many examples of staff supporting people with a caring, sensitive and respectful approach. In addition comments we received from people being supported and relatives confirmed this. One relative said, “Excellent staff it has taken a while to get the service up and running but they are wonderful people.”

People were provided with support and guidance to meet their aims and goals and be part of the local community. For example attending local colleges and public building events. One staff member said, “We are out and about in the community and involved in learning disability projects that are planned.”

We found staff, people being supported and relatives were at the centre of L’Arche’s quality assurance programme. The management team had a range of systems to gain their feedback. This included meetings with people who used the service and their relatives. Staff, people who used the service and relatives told us the service was organised and well-led.

The registered manager used other methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included staff meetings, meetings with health and social care professionals and quality audits.