Avalon Harrogate Services

Avalon Harrogate Services provides personal care and support to people who have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. Some of the people who use the service are also living with dementia. Some people who receive support live in small supported living services which are staffed according to assessed needs. Other people live in a family setting with a main carer. This is called shared lives. The aim of the service is to support people to live independently. The service was supporting 15 people at the time of our inspection. For the purposes of this report the term 'staff' refers to supported living workers as well as shared lives carers.

Not everyone using Avalon Harrogate Services receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and 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.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were supported by staff who understood the risks they faced and how to support them to reduce these. People were protected from harm by staff that recognised the signs of abuse and were confident to raise concerns.

There was enough staff to safely provide care and support. Safe recruitment processes helped to prevent unsuitable staff working with people who needed support. Staff received regular supervision and training which supported them in their roles.

Personalised care plans and risk assessments were in place. The care and support people received was person centred. Staff were kind and treated people with dignity and respect and their independence was promoted. They were sensitive to people's needs regarding equality, diversity and their human rights, as their choices and preferences were respected. People were encouraged and supported to lead full and active lives in their homes and in the community.

People are 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 support this practice.

The service was well-led and there were effective quality assurance systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service people received. Feedback systems were in place where the views of people and relatives were sought. People were given information on how to raise a complaint should they choose to do so.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found