This announced inspection was carried out between 6 and 7 September 2017.

An Darach Care has its registered office head office located in the village of Swinderby in Lincolnshire. The service provides personal care support for adults who live in their own homes independently in the community. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care for 23 people who experienced needs related to learning disabilities and autism. Each person had a tenancy agreement in place and people lived in their own homes in six supported living houses located both in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

The last inspection took place between 24 and 25 August 2015. The result of this inspection was that the service was rated ‘Good.’ At this inspection we found the service was 'Outstanding.'

The registered person’s employed two registered manager’s to run the service. 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. In this report when we speak about both the company and the registered managers we sometimes refer to them as being, ‘The registered persons’.

People were fully involved in making decisions about their lives and the care they received, how they wanted to be supported and how they spent their time. Care was given in ways which ensured their privacy and dignity was fully respected. The registered person's and staff were creative in overcoming any obstacles to achieving kind and compassionate care. People’s personal information was maintained in ways which ensured it was kept confidential.

Staff found creative ways to enable people to live as full a life as possible. People were supported to access to a wide range of activities and educational opportunities to enable them to maximise their potential as individuals. People and their relatives were involved in regularly planning and reviewing their care. People and their relatives understood how to raise any complaints or issues they had and the registered persons took action to respond to and address any concerns raised with them.

Staff knew how to quickly recognise and report any concerns they had for people’s safety in order to ensure people were kept safe from harm. The registered persons had assessed potential risks to people. When any accidents or incidents had occurred they had reflected on these and put preventive measures in place. They had also developed further strategies to reduce the risk of them occurring again.

People who needed staff assistance to take their medicines were supported safely to do this. The registered persons had also ensured there were clear arrangements in place for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines.

Staff were recruited safely and were well trained, developed and supported to undertake the roles they were employed to do. There were sufficient numbers of staff available who were deployed in the right way to meet people’s care needs.

People had access to all of the healthcare support they needed. People also had access to a varied diet and were supported to eat and drink enough to promote their health and well-being.

The registered persons had processes in place which ensured, when needed, they acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). This measure is intended to ensure that people are supported to make decisions for themselves. When this is not possible the Act requires that decisions are taken in people’s best interests.

The registered persons promoted an open and inclusive culture within the service and people and their relatives were consulted with about the development of the service.

There was a range of audit systems and quality checks in place which ensured the service was continually monitored so that

When we visited An Darach Care, we spoke with the registered manager, the trainee manager, the compliance auditor, one member of care staff and one person who used the service. Speaking with these people helped answer our five questions; Is the service safe? Is the service effective? Is the service caring? Is the service responsive? Is the service well led?

Below is a summary of what we found. If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary please read our full report.

Is the service safe?

There were three people receiving care and support in this service on the day of our inspection. We spoke with one person who told us they were satisfied with the care and attention shown by staff and confirmed if they needed anything, staff would respond promptly. They said, "I like it here."

We found evidence that learning had taken place from incidents and investigations and appropriate changes were implemented to improve the service.

We looked at medication administration including medication charts. We reviewed records for the receipt, administration and disposal of medicines. We found records were complete and people had received the medication they had been prescribed.

We found the provider had systems in place to ensure people's safety and well-being. The service was subject to regular review and actions were taken to minimise risk.

Is the service effective?

People told us the care they received met their needs. Direct questions to people who lived at the home was not appropriate, however through general discussion people indicated to us they had been involved in planning the care they received.

Our discussions with the registered manager demonstrated the provider was fully aware of each person's individual care needs. Care plans and risk assessments were in place to be able to respond to frequently changing health care needs.

Is the service caring?

The people who lived at the service had Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We saw staff interacted with people with a structured and helpful approach. Staff helped people to develop social skills and manage stress.

We saw the service used schedules and timetables to give the necessary structure and visual cues to people with ASD.

Is the service responsive?

We reviewed three people's care records and found they included assessments of their individual needs and contained clear guidelines for staff to follow. This ensured people's health and personal care needs were met. People's care records included a life history and a record of the individual's needs and preferences.

People had access to activities that were important to them and had been supported by staff to fully participate in the activity.

Is the service well led?

We found the service had systems in place to assure the quality of care they provided. The way the service was run had been regularly and robustly reviewed. We were satisfied that the recruitment systems the service had in place ensured people

working at An Darach Care had been suitably vetted for their posts. This meant people who lived at the service were protected from the risks associated with unsuitable staff.

The service benefited from effective leadership.

As part of our inspection we spoke with the registered manager and two staff. We observed care and we also looked at records.

We observed staff speaking to people and noted they spoke politely and patiently to people. we saw staff supported people to make decisions about their daily activities.

When we looked at the daily records we found they reflected the care people were assessed as requiring.

Overall we observed people were supported by skilled and experienced staff who understood their roles and responsibilities in order to provide safe care to people. We saw staff had received training and support to provide them with the skills necessary to meet the needs of people.

During our visit we looked at care plans and found they included information about the support people required and people's personal preferences.

We saw consent to support was recorded and considered by staff when delivering care.

Risks were identified and effective plans were in place to support the management of the risks.

We looked at medicine records and found they were completed according to the provider's policy for the administration of medicines. It was clear from the records if people had received their medicines.

We observed people received appropriate nutrition and records recorded details of people's nutritional needs.

People told us they were satisfied with the support they were given. People had formed positive relationships with staff. We observed staff were always pleasant, courteous and good humoured. We saw support workers promoted people’s dignity and responded to their individual needs and wishes.

One relative told staff communicated well with them to ensure people’s needs were met, “If something in the service needs to be changed, we are always consulted.”

We saw people who used the service were supported to be as independent as possible. This included responsibility for the housekeeping of their bungalow.

An Darach Care is a supported living scheme and is registered to provide personal care to people who use the service. Its registered office is located in the village of Swinderby in Lincolnshire. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people who experience learning disabilities and autism using the service. Each person had a tenancy agreement in place and people lived in five supported living houses located both in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

This was an unannounced inspection carried out over two days between 24 and 25 August 2015.

Our last inspection took place on 04 June 2014. During this inspection we found that the service was meeting all legal requirements.

There was 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.

Staff were caring and positive working relationships between staff and people who used the service and their relatives had been developed and were being maintained. People were involved in making decisions about how they wanted to be supported and how they spent their time and their privacy and dignity was maintained at all times.

New staff were recruited safely and staff were sufficiently trained and supported by the registered provider to undertake their roles. There were sufficient staff available who were deployed in the right way to meet people’s care needs.

Staff were well trained and supported to meet people’s needs and staff had a good understanding of how to manage risks and protect people from avoidable harm. They also knew how they would report any concerns they identified appropriately.

The registered manager had ensured there were clear arrangements in place for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines. Staff’s competency to safely administer medications was regularly assessed.

People and their relatives were consulted regularly about the development of the service. The provider had completed quality checks to make sure that people received the care they needed in a consistent way.

The registered provider and registered manager promoted an open and inclusive culture within the service. People and their relatives had the opportunity share their views and opinions and were involved in planning and reviewing their care. People and their relatives also understood how to raise any complaints or issues they had and were confident the right actions would be taken to resolve them.

There was a range of effective audit systems and checks to ensure the service was continually monitored. This was so that any changes or improvements needed would be acted upon in order to keep developing the quality of services being provided for people.