Bestchoice Global Ltd

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 the service is registered for people who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic. However, at the time of inspection the service did not support anyone who had a learning disability or were autistic.

There were systems in place to promote a learning culture. For example, accidents and incidents were viewed to see what could be learned to prevent future such incidents occurring. People were protected from the risk of abuse through appropriate procedures and staff training. Risk assessments were in place for people which included information about how to support people in a safe way. Various checks were carried out to help ensure the premises were safe, for example, on fire safety systems. There were enough staff to support people and robust staff recruitment practices were in place. Medicines were mostly managed in a safe way. However, medicine administration records were not always maintained for medicines prescribed on an ‘as required’ basis.

People’s needs were assessed and care plans were in place. People were involved in developing their care plans to ensure they reflected what was important to them. People’s care was monitored, for example, through daily records and care plans were subject to review. This meant they continued to reflect people’s needs as they changed over time. People were able to consent to their care and had the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions they had choice, control and freedom over their lives. No one was subject to a DoLS authorisation.

People were treated with kindness and respect. Their independence and choice were promoted. Staff told us how they helped people in a caring way that respected their privacy and enabled them to make choices.

People received person-centred care, care plans were based around the needs of individuals. They were involved in planning their own care. They were involved in their care plan reviews and regular resident’s meetings were held. People had access to various community services, these included social and leisure activities and relevant healthcare professionals.

There was a registered manager in place who was also the owner of the business. Staff spoke positively about the management and the working atmosphere at the service. A member of staff said, “[Registered manager] is a down-to-earth person, they listen when we raise questions and they are caring.” Various quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place. For example, audits, surveys and staff meetings. Staff were supported to develop in their role and had access to regular training and 1 to 1 supervision meetings with their manager.