Archived: NAS Community Services (Central London)

Updated 10 November 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 30 August 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. This inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. For example, information shared with us by members of the public, healthcare professionals and statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We used this information to plan the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with two managers a team leader and a support worker. Following the inspection we spoke with four relatives of people using the service. We reviewed four care plans, five staff files, training records, medicine administration records and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 10 November 2017

This inspection took place on 30 August 2017 and was announced. NAS Community Services (Central London) is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to adults who have a diagnosis of autism, a learning disability, or a developmental impairment. The service provides flexible 24 hour care and support packages to people living in five accommodation units in the Westminster area. Nine people were using the service at the time of our visit.

At the previous comprehensive inspection on 22 and 24 April 2015 we found the service was meeting all of the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008. We indicated that there were areas of service delivery that required improvement and rated NAS Community Services (Central London) as requires improvement overall.

The service did not have a registered manager 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.

Where people were unable to contribute to the care planning process, staff worked with people’s relatives and representatives and sought the advice of health and social care professionals to assess the care people needed. This ensured people’s support needs could be identified and met before an individual support plan was developed and staff were allocated to work with people.

The service provided a responsive and person centred approach to ensure support provided adequately met their specific needs. Care records contained what was important to them, their preferences, notable information about them such as their personality type or hobbies they had, their dreams and aspirations. This meant support staff had clear and specific guidance on how best to support people using the service.

People’s risk assessments were completed and these covered a range of issues including guidance around accessing the community and personal safety. Assessments were up to date and reviewed in line with the provider’s policies.

Staff were familiar with the provider’s safeguarding policies and procedures and able to describe the actions they would take to keep people safe. Relatives felt their family members were safe and trusted the staff providing support and care.

Staff supported people to attend health appointments and had received training in first aid awareness. There were protocols in place to respond to any medical emergencies or significant changes in a person’s well-being. These included contacting people’s GPs, social workers and family members for additional advice and assistance.

People’s independence was promoted and staff actively encouraged people to participate in activities. People were supported to attend day centres, take part in exercise classes, go on trips out and away on holiday.

Staff were aware of people’s specific dietary needs and preferences and offered people choices at mealtimes. Where people were not able to communicate their likes and/or dislikes, staff sought advice and guidance from family members.

There were arrangements in place to assess and monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service.