Avenida Lodge is part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and provides support for young adults who live in their own flats in Eastbourne. Registered as a domiciliary care agency under Adult Social Care, it is inspected separately from the Trust, and supports people with autism, learning disabilities and mental health needs. Throughout the report ‘Trust’ will refer to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

This inspection took place on the 1and 2 August 2017 and was announced.

The registered manager was present during the inspection. 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.

Technical difficulties had meant that statutory notifications submitted by the registered provider had not been received by CQC, despite action taken by the registered provider to confirm the process for doing so with CQC. Since the inspection, the registered provider had arranged an alternative way to send notifications while this was being resolved.

People and their relatives were very positive about the support provided. They said the staff were friendly, encouraged them to be independent and kept people safe. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs; they explained clearly how they supported people to make choices and have as much control over their lives as possible under risk based system.

Staff had attended safeguarding training and demonstrated a good understanding of supporting vulnerable people. If they had any concerns they reported them immediately to the registered manager or supervisors, who were on call at weekends and out of office hours. Medicines were managed appropriately and staff had attended training before they were able to assist people with medicines.

A robust recruitment procedure was in place to ensure only suitable people worked for the agency and, there were enough staff working for the agency to meet people’s needs.

Staff felt supported by management; there were systems in place to monitor and review the support provided and feedback was sought from people who used the agency, their relatives or representatives and health and social care professionals.

This inspection took place on 15 January 2015 and was announced. We last visited the service in 2012 and we found the service met the regulations we inspected.

Partnership Domiciliary Care Agency (PDCA) is part of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which was inspected at the same time by the hospital inspection team. PDCA is a domiciliary care agency and provides support for adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health problem. They live in one of the flats owned by the trust, their family home or attend the flats for support. At the time of our inspection 14 people were receiving support from the service.

The service was run by a registered manager who was available at the end of the inspection. 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.

There were systems in place to keep people safe. People told us they felt safe and happy and staff treated them with respect.

Detailed assessments of risks to people had been completed and reviewed. The service employed enough qualified and well trained staff and people and their relatives were involved in interviewing new staff.

There were safe procedures in place to support people take their medicines.

People and their relatives were involved in planning and reviewing the support provided. Where people were unable to do this, staff said they would liaise with health and social care professionals to review the person’s capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Induction training was provided for new staff, which included fundamental training, such as food hygiene and health and safety; as well as specialist training to support people with learning disabilities. Staff had day to day supervision, as well as one to one meetings and staff meetings, so they could discuss their role, share information and put forward suggestions.

People were supported to go shopping, as well as prepare and cook their own meals, and staff ensured people had a nutritional diet.

The needs of people were clearly documented in the support plans. They were reviewed regularly to ensure people received they support they needed, and included clear guidance for staff to follow.

People and their relatives were consulted about the support provided, and if they had any concerns they were confident they would be addressed by the service.

The registered manager and senior staff provided good leadership and support for staff. There was ongoing monitoring of the service by the Trust and additional systems had been introduced to assess the support provided by the service.