Mencap in Kirklees (DCA)

People's experience of the service and what we found: 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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right Support Staff supported people to have choice, control in their care and support. 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. The service was flexible to people's needs and we saw examples of how the provider was responsive to their changing needs.

Right Care Staff understood people's needs and provided appropriate care. One person's relative told us, "Our experience has been very positive. The support (person) gets is individualised to (them). It is a good staff group that understand the task and involve us in solutions." Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their needs, and this promoted their wellbeing.

Right Culture People received good quality care and support because the provider and staff focused on meeting their needs and wishes to enhance their quality of life. People and, where appropriate, their relatives were involved in planning their care. People, relatives and staff felt well supported by the management team and able to raise concerns with them. They felt concerns were acted on and lessons learnt when things went wrong. There were systems to monitor and audit the service to help improve quality and people's experiences.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk