Authentic Kare Milton Keynes

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People received safe care and support. Risk assessments and support plans were in place for known risks and these were reviewed regularly. Staff had sufficient guidance to ensure they could provide safe care which mitigated known risks as far as possible. Medicines support was provided safely when required.

Since the last inspection improvements were made to recruitment practices. Safe recruitment processes were followed to ensure staff were suitable for their roles. There were sufficient staff to meet people's needs. People received consistent care from staff who knew them well.

Staff knew how to reduce the risk of infection spread and used personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff had received training in infection prevention and control. Processes were followed to report and follow up on accidents and incidents. Lessons were learned when something went wrong.

Since the last inspection improvements were made to the running and management oversight of all key areas of the service. Quality assurance audits of key areas of the service were carried out regularly and were embedded into practice. Action plans were used when any areas for improvement or follow up tasks were identified, and these were used effectively. The registered manager was committed to driving ongoing improvements to the service for the benefit of the people receiving support.

Staff were supported through supervision and regular team meetings. A range of spot checks and competency checks were undertaken to support staff development. Surveys were used to gather feedback on people's experience of the service, and the feedback was used to drive improvements where needed.

The registered manager was aware of their legal responsibilities. Staff worked in partnership with other health and social care professionals involved in people's care and treatment. Relatives and staff told us they thought the service was well run and provided good quality care to people in their own homes.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and they were supported in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.