Dimensions London Domiciliary Care Office

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.

This service provides care and support to people living in '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. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support.

At the time of this inspection the service was providing personal care and support to 88 people living in their own homes. The majority of these people lived in a supported living scheme in a shared house or flat.

The registered manager was supported by locality managers who managed between three and four supported living schemes each.

The service also provided a specialist service providing Applied Behaviour Analysis and positive behaviour support for people with an autistic spectrum condition to develop their life skills and independence. These people had structured teaching and support programmes delivered by a suitably qualified team.

Staff understood how to safeguard people and risks were managed effectively to help people keep safe and protect their rights.

There were some minor concerns about medicines recording which the registered manager addressed when we brought these to their attention and put steps in place to prevent recurrences.

The service offered "active support" and worked with, rather than for, people they supported. People played an active role in planning their lives and in their day to day routines. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the service supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People had choice around what they ate, whether they cooked their own meals or had their meals cooked by staff and how they spent their time.

The service provided support to people to maintain good health and with managing health conditions.

People had good support to maintain their independence and their right to privacy was respected. The service helped people with maintaining relationships with their families and friends.

People were involved in planning their care. The service ensured care plans were person centred and updated as and when people's care needs changed.

Effective systems were in place to manage complaints. People using the service and their relatives told us they were happy with the service. The service was person-centred and inclusive.

The service maintained records of care and support provided, people's health needs and wellbeing.

The registered manager had strong leadership skills and introduced new initiatives and ideas to improve opportunities for people. Staff felt well supported by the managers.

The provider was continually improving the service and worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to ensure people's health and social care needs were met. The provider had a comprehensive quality monitoring process. We have made one recommendation about improving the follow up action to the existing quality monitoring processes to ensure improvements are made without delay when needed.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found