Home Farm

The house is in a rural setting on the outskirts of a village that is near to Workington. The house can support up to six people in single rooms. There are suitable shared areas and a pleasant garden that has an area for sport. The house has a small office and a sleeping-in room for staff.

Staff were inducted, trained and supervised. They had accessed training to ensure they could support people. The team worked with other professionals and took their advice about care and support.

People told us they were happy with the food provided and had been encouraged to eat a balanced diet and to start to prepare their own snacks and drinks. They were encouraged to have a healthy lifestyle and were supported to access health care support.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Right support: • Model of care and setting maximises people's choice, control and independence Right care: • Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy and humanrights Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

We observed caring and respectful interactions between staff and people in the service. People were treated as 'guests' and their care and wellbeing was the primary focus of the team. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible and to make their own decisions about their life choices.

The team helped people to develop their care plans. The plans included all the person's need and their aspirations. People were also encouraged to look at their social, recreational and emotional goals. Staff had supported people during the pandemic so that they could maintain relationships and develop social and recreational skills, despite the lockdown measures.

The service was managed by a suitably qualified and skilled person who was registered with the Care Quality Commission. She was highly motivated, very committed and enthusiastic. The staff were supportive of her and empowered by her leadership.

Quality in the service was monitored internally and externally by senior managers of the provider. The operations manager had started to visit the house again to give the registered manager support and to assess the quality of the service. We saw evidence of audits and staff and service user meetings. Staff supervision, appraisal and training was all up to date. Service users' opinions were routinely sought. Planning was in place for ongoing improvement and development of the service.