North East Autism Society

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.

Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing. Staff did everything they could to avoid restraining people. The service recorded when staff restrained people, and staff learned from those incidents and how they might be avoided or reduced. This work was being continuously developed and new software was being introduced to improve the analysis of data and share best practice with staff. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life.

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

Right Care: People received kind and compassionate care which supported their needs and focused on their quality of life. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. There was an ongoing recruitment campaign to minimise the use of agency staff. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture: People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.