Link-Ability

Link-Ability is registered to provide personal care and support for people living with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. Support is provided in people's own homes and can range from 24 hour care to an agreed number of hours on a weekly basis. This service provides care and support to people living in 15 'supported living' settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support. At the time of the visit there were 27 people who used the service.

At the last inspection in April 2015 the service was rated 'Good' with outstanding in responsive and was meeting the regulatory requirements relevant at that time. At this inspection in March and April 2018 we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and the service had successfully retained an outstanding rating in responsive. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

We received extremely positive feedback from relatives regarding the responsiveness of the staff their attitude and exceptional commitment to people they supported. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Care plans demonstrated a holistic, excellent and exceptionally person centred approach aimed at maximising people's independence and choice. People who received support, or where appropriate their relatives, were involved in decisions and consented to their care.

There was an exceptional drive to maximise people's independence and significant efforts to promote social inclusion. This was supported by a highly motivated staff team that took a positive risk taking and person centred approach to their role. Feedback and comments from people was extremely positive.

The registered manager had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take appropriate action when required. Recruitment checks were carried out to ensure suitable people were employed to work at the service.

Staff skills, knowledge, training and support demonstrated a commitment to providing outstanding care which was embedded into the practices of the staff and the management team. The service put people's views at the forefront of the service and designed the service around their needs.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people who used the service. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care and support people required.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required. However, improvements were required to the medicines management practices.

We found people had been assisted to have access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were met.

We received mixed feedback from people and care staff regarding staffing levels in the service. However, we saw actions had been taken to rectify the concerns and staff recruitment was ongoing.

People who used the service and their relatives, knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise concerns.

The registered manager and the nominated individual used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of service provided to people. These included regular internal audits of the service, staff and people's forums to seek the views of people about the quality of care being provided.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found