Rainbow Living Care Limited

People lived safely and free from unwarranted restrictions because the service assessed, monitored and managed safety well. There was an open culture where staff were encouraged to learn lessons to improve future practice. People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. People’s freedom was restricted only where they were a risk to themselves or others, as a last resort and for the shortest time possible. Staffing levels were safe. They were recruited safely and had the appropriate pre-employment checks in place before employment commenced. People were supported by staff who had received relevant and good quality training. This included training in the wide range of strengths and impairments people with a learning disability and or autistic people may have, mental health needs, communication tools, positive behaviour support, trauma-informed care, human rights and all restrictive interventions. The service had safe systems in place for appropriate and safe handling of medicines. Where shortfalls were identified during the inspection, the service acted responsively, making the necessary improvements.

People had care and support plans that were personalised and reflected both their physical and mental health needs. Care plans were reviewed regularly and reflected a good understanding of people’s needs, including relevant assessments of people’s communication support and sensory needs. People had health actions plans and health passports which were used by health and social care professionals to support them in the way they needed. Staff understood the importance of promoting people’s independence. Staff knew about people’s capacity to make decisions through verbal or non-verbal means, and this was well documented. People were empowered to make their own decisions about their care and support.

People’s independence was promoted, and they had choice and control over their care and support. Staff took the time to understand people’s individual communication styles and develop a rapport with them. People were encouraged to make choices for themselves and staff respected people’s choices and wherever possible, accommodated their wishes. Staff could recognise signs when people experienced emotional distress and knew how to support them to minimise the need to restrict their freedom to keep them safe. Staff were very positive about the support they received. They were valued and treated with respect and told us Rainbow Living was a good company to work for.

Staff provided people with personalised, proactive and co-ordinated support in line with their care plans. This included a clear focus on their communication plans and positive behaviour support plans. These were regularly reviewed and updated in response to changes to people’s needs. People, and those important to them, could raise concerns and complaints easily and staff supported them to do so. The service treated all concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results, sharing the learning with the whole team and the wider service where appropriate. Staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage different groups of people using their services. They proactively supported people to remove any barriers to care and to support access to healthcare.

Staff and leaders actively promoted staff empowerment to drive improvement. They encouraged staff to raise concerns and promoted the value of doing so. All staff were confident their voices were heard. People and their families felt listened to and were able to raise concerns if they needed to. The staff team had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. Staff understand their role and responsibilities. Governance processes were effective. A quality assurance system of scheduled audits was in place. This included regular checks of all areas including health and safety. Clear plans were in place to further develop the service. This included the recent introduction of electronic care plans and plans to introduce a new governance lead in the near future. Leaders encouraged staff to speak up with ideas for improvement and innovation and actively invested time to listen and engage. There was a strong sense of trust between leadership and staff.