This inspection took place on 26 May 2017 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of the service since its change of registration with the Care Quality Commission in April 2016.

Autism Wessex High Ground is situated in the market town of Sherborne, and is close to the town’s shops and leisure facilities. Accommodation is a split levelled house arranged over two floors with stairs giving access to each floor. The home can accommodate up to four people and it provides support to people who have autism. At the time of the inspection there were four people living there, all who had learning disabilities and autism.

People were not able to tell us about their experiences of life at the home so we therefore used our observations of care and our discussions with staff and relatives and information received prior to the inspection to help form our judgements.

There was a newly appointed manager in post, who had applied to the Care Quality Commission to become the registered manager. 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.

People were supported by a caring staff team who knew them well. Staff morale was good and there was a happy and relaxed atmosphere in the home. One member of staff said, “People are so much happier since moving here last year”.

Recruitment checks were robust and there were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs. Records confirmed that training was appropriate to people's roles and staff were suitably skilled. Staff were supported though supervision and appraisals

There were enough staff deployed to help keep people safe, each person received one to one staffing. People were supported to live the life they chose with reduced risks to themselves or others. There was an emphasis on supporting people to develop and maintain independent living skills in a safe way.

There were policies and procedures which helped to reduce the risks of harm or abuse to the people who lived at the home. These were understood and followed by staff. These included recognising and reporting abuse, the management of people’s finances, staff recruitment and the management of people’s medicines.

Care plans were personalised to each individual and contained information to assist staff to provide care in a manner that respected their needs and individual wishes. Behaviour support plans and communication profiles were also used to ensure staff were able to understand and support people’s individual needs.

Staff encouraged people to be as independent as they could be. Staff saw their role as supportive and caring but were keen not to disempower people.

Safe systems were in place to protect people from the risks associated with medicines. Medicines were managed in accordance with best practice. Medicines were stored, administered and recorded safely. Health professionals were routinely involved in supporting people with their health and wellbeing.

People were always asked for their consent before staff assisted them with any tasks and staff knew the procedures to follow to make sure people’s legal and human rights were protected.

People accessed various activities in the local community. People were supported to maintain contact with the important people in their lives. A relative told us, “The staff are very responsive and always bring [person’s name] home when we want to see him.”

There was a complaints procedure in place. Complaints had been dealt with in line with the service policy. Audits were carried out to monitor all aspects of the service and action plans developed which highlighted areas for improvement.