Albert Road

The service demonstrated a commitment to person-centred care, rehabilitation and promoting independence. People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their individual needs, preferences, goals and communication styles. Care planning reflected what was important to people and support arrangements promoted community participation, relationship building, confidence, independence and meaningful activity. Feedback from relatives was consistently positive and highlighted the caring, compassionate and personalised nature of support provided by staff.

People benefited from established arrangements to support their safety and wellbeing. Staff understood safeguarding responsibilities and risks associated with people's needs and worked with healthcare professionals, safeguarding authorities and other agencies when concerns arose. Environmental safety arrangements were well managed and staff had access to training and guidance relevant to the people they supported. Professional advice from healthcare specialists was generally incorporated into care planning and support arrangements, helping to ensure support reflected people's changing needs and circumstances.

The service demonstrated a rehabilitative approach that focused on helping people maintain and develop skills, maximise independence and achieve goals that were meaningful to them. Staff worked collaboratively with a range of professionals, including GPs, Speech and Language Therapists and other specialists. There was evidence of positive outcomes relating to independence, confidence, mobility, community participation and wellbeing. Relatives spoke positively about the progress people had made and described the service as supporting people to achieve the best possible quality of life.

The assessment identified opportunities to strengthen how some aspects of care, safety and quality were monitored and evaluated over time. Whilst concerns were appropriately recognised, investigated and acted upon, the provider was not always able to demonstrate through structured monitoring and outcome data how the effectiveness of interventions had been reviewed or how learning had been embedded following some incidents and safeguarding concerns.

The assessment also identified areas where assurance processes could be strengthened. Some health-monitoring records, assessments and outcome information were not always readily available when requested, reducing assurance regarding how progress, health outcomes and the effectiveness of interventions were reviewed over time. Whilst governance systems were established and leaders were able to identify and respond to concerns, further work was required to improve the accessibility, consistency and integration of management information to support oversight and quality improvement.

Overall, people benefited from caring, person-centred and rehabilitative support delivered by staff who were knowledgeable about their needs and committed to helping them achieve positive outcomes. The service promoted independence, choice, community participation and wellbeing, and people and relatives consistently spoke positively about their experiences of care. Whilst opportunities remained to strengthen monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning arrangements, these areas did not detract from the overall quality of support people received or the positive outcomes the service helped people achieve.