This was an announced inspection that took place on 8 June 2017.

Senad Community Limited - Derby provides care and support to adults diagnosed with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders, and mental health needs living in their own homes.

At the time of the inspection there were 12 people using the service.

The service has a registered manager. This 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.

People and relatives told us this was a caring service. They said the management and staff were kind and approachable and committed to providing personalised and flexible care and support. Staff were recruited to meet people’s specific needs and share their hobbies and interests. People were supported with their cultural preferences and needs which were documented in their care plans.

People felt safe using the service because they had the opportunity to get to know and build up relationships of trust with the staff who supported them. Staff knew how to protect people from harm and gave us examples of this, which included helping a person improve their home environment so it was safe, and assisting another person to make and maintain positive friendships with their peers.

There were enough staff employed to support people safely and enable them to lead full lives. People were involved in choosing their own staff team. Staff were safely recruited to ensure they were suitable to work for the service. People and relatives told us the staff were usually on time for their calls and if they were going to be late they would be informed.

The staff were well-trained and competent. They gave us examples of how they used what they’d learnt from training in their day to day work. These included managing behaviour that challenges the service and dealing with an incident when a person fell. New staff had a comprehensive induction followed by ongoing and refresher training and specialised training where necessary.

Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and ensured that, where possible, people consented to the care and support provided. If people were subject to continual supervision or other types of support that might be deemed restrictive staff ensured this was done lawfully. Staff were open and honest with people and always explained what they were going to do to support them and why.

Staff provided assistance to some people with their meals and drinks. People and relatives told us people were encouraged to choose their own meals and eat healthily. Staff also supported people to maintain good health and access healthcare service when they needed to. They were knowledgeable about people’s health care needs and had specialist training where necessary to meet these. Staff had the information they needed to safely support people with their medicines.

The people and relatives we spoke with said the service was well-led and provided high quality care and support. They told us they had confidence in the registered manager who was approachable, listened to them, and made improvements and changes if they were needed. They said they were regularly asked for their views on the service through questionnaires, phone calls, and in person.

The staff we spoke with commented on how well the registered manager and other senior staff ran the service and told us they always put the people using the service first. They also said that they themselves were well-supported and enjoyed working for a service with such a caring culture.

The provider had systems in place to quality assure the service. The results of the audits we saw showed that people, relatives and staff were overwhelmingly satisfied with all aspects of the service and would recommend it to othe