Douglas Close

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

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

Right Care: Relatives told us they felt people were supported by staff in a kind, caring and dignified way and we observed this to be the case. People's differences were respected by staff and they had undertaken relevant training to effectively support people. This included training for learning disabilities and autism awareness. Relatives told us that staff knew their loved ones' needs and preferences well. People's right to privacy was respected and staff encouraged people to provide feedback about the care provided in a format they could understand. Care plans were personalised and included information on people's healthcare needs, communication needs, preferences and other relevant information. Care plans included steps for staff to take in order to encourage people to follow good oral hygiene. People were supported to enjoy the diet of their choice and staff encouraged them to have a nutritionally balanced diet. People had individual goals and objectives which were regularly reviewed by staff. The service was situated in a residential area with no outward signs to differentiate it from other houses in the street. People were able to access the local community and were supported by staff to do so.

Right Culture: The culture of the service was open, inclusive and empowered people to live as independently as possible. Relatives were complimentary about the service and felt their ideas and concerns would be listened to by the provider, registered manager and staff. The provider had undertaken audits to look at ways of improving the service. Staff were complimentary about the registered manager and provider and told us they felt able to raise concerns.