The inspection of Support’ed Limited (known locally as ‘Support’ed) took place on the 6 and 7 April 2017.

Support’ed supported the personal care of three people to live in their own home. They worked with younger and older adults with complex needs. People may have a mental health diagnosis, learning disability or be on the autistic spectrum. The inspection was announced three days in advance. This was due to the complexity of the needs of people Support’ed supports. This gave time for staff time to support one person to feel comfortable speaking to us and to arrange for us to speak to family carers of the two other people. Also, we were only able to speak to staff who were off duty and they needed time to arrange to talk to us.

This is Support’ed’s first inspection following their registration with us in April 2015.

There was a registered manager appointed to run the service. 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 service provided care to people in their own homes. The registered manager and directors had spent time designing the service ethos and approach. Personal care was seen as more than washing and dressing and supporting people’s continence. Individualised care for those they supported was deemed essential and staff were part of the same ethos and culture. Parent carers were respected and embraced for their knowledge and as part of the team. As a result, care and support was provided to enable people to live a fulfilled and meaningful life.

There was a positive culture within the service. The management team provided strong leadership and led by example. The registered manager and directors had a clear vision, values and enthusiasm about how they wished the service to be provided and these values were shared with the whole staff team. Staff had clearly adopted the same ethos and enthusiasm and this showed in the way they cared for people.

Staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer kind and compassionate care and support. All the staff said they enjoyed their work and loved seeing people progress. Regular competency checks were completed to test staff knowledge and to help ensure their skills were up to date and in line with best practice.

One person could tell us verbally about their experiences of the service. They were very positive about the staff and service. For the others, parent carers told us about the immense difference the service had made to their loved ones and family’s lives. People who had previously been restricted were now being supported in a different way, which gave them more freedom and an enhanced quality of life. We heard many examples of how people's lives had changed for the better and about how many new opportunities they now had.

Relatives and other agencies were without exception, extremely positive about the service and the care people received. We were told that since Support’ed took over their care people's lives had changed. Due to the care and the skills of the staff team people had progressed, experienced new opportunities and now had more independence.

Other agencies were very positive about the staff team and leadership of the service. We were told that staff embraced ideas and worked hard to ensure people were able to do the things they wanted. The overall view of other agencies we spoke with was that despite the complex needs of people they supported, the service had managed to deliver excellent quality personalised care within their own home.

People were supported to express their views and have their voice heard. Staff were creative and used innovative methods to help people express their views and understand what was happening around them. There were sufficient nu