Minstead Training Trust provides various services to people with a learning disability including a residential service, day centre opportunities and a respite service. The aim of the service is to provide people with a positive opportunity to learn and develop the skills necessary to become more independent whilst receiving care and support in a safe learning environment. People using the service are referred to as ‘Students’ and so we have used this terminology throughout our report. At the time of our inspection eight people were using the residential element of the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

Staff provided new opportunities and experiences for people and supported them to constantly reflect on what they had achieved and look at what they would like to do in the future. For example, some people were being supported to start the process of applying for work or college placements. Other people were learning skills to be more independent.

People lived in a safe and comfortable environment. They were able to take risks and were supported to make decisions which reflected their preferences and individual needs. The staff worked in an extremely person centred way, by responding to the person's individual communication needs to make sure the care and support they were provided was right for each person. This included the way in which they responded to risks, making sure people felt safe and had the support they needed in any given situation. This meant that each person had a bespoke service which was developed with them and changed to reflect the changes taking place in their lives, confidence and abilities. This was confirmed by the relatives and professionals who we spoke with, who felt the person centred approach was a particularly positive feature of the service.

Each person had a plan of social, leisure and educational activities which were tailor made for them and considered how they wanted to live their lives as well as their emotional and health needs. The staff worked very closely with a team of healthcare consultants to make sure support was planned in an appropriate and individualised way. This meant that all the decisions about people's care and support were well thought out and included the perspectives of different professionals. They had regular and comprehensive discussions to review each person's support plans to make sure they always considered their holistic needs. They monitored how people reacted and felt about each situation they were exposed to so that care could be adjusted to ensure it met the person's need. People were involved in planning their own care and making decisions. For people who could not express how they felt verbally, the staff made sure they had opportunities to express themselves in the way they could and that this was understood and acted upon.

Staff were provided with opportunities to develop their skills and career. Individual staff abilities and interests were valued and incorporated into the way the service worked. All of the staff were able to contribute their ideas at all levels of the organisation from planning individual people's care to being part of developing new ways of working and procedures. The staff gave extremely positive feedback about working for the provider and the opportunities they felt they had been given.

The systems for monitoring and improving the service were an intrinsic part of the way the service worked. The staff continually monitored individual care, feedback from people using the service and information about them was used to reflect on and improve practice. Records were well thought out, clear a

We looked at the homes safeguarding policy and found that it was satisfactory and accessible to staff. Staff were knowledgeable about the whistleblowing policy and told us that they would contact the Care Quality Commission or the local authority if they felt that concerns were not being addressed.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place. The manager explained to us that care staff were interviewed and were subject to a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) check.

People who use the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views about their care and support and they were acted on. One relative said "They do ask us what we think and they always act on it". We looked at questionnaires that were completed by relatives. One person said "We can't fault Minstead, information is always accurate and we are involved".

We found that plans provided information and guidance about people's likes, dislikes and care planning. The registered person told us that they listen to what people are interested in and try to support them to develop in that area. We saw pictorial weekly timetables and pictorial care plans. One person said "I change my plan when I want to"

People’s needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. All three care records reflected an appropriate range of assessment of health and well being needs and personal interests. Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people’s safety and welfare. One person said "I feel safe here" People who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

Care staff we spoke with attended an appropriate range of training courses relevant to people's needs. Training covered Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, moving and handling and safe food handling. We were also told that one member of staff requested to complete a counselling course which was approved. People were given support by the provider to make a comment or complaint where they needed assistance. Staff told us that several people had independent advocates. One person said "I'd get my family to help me if I had to complain"