We undertook an inspection on 12 and 16 May 2017. The inspection was announced, which meant the provider knew we would be visiting. This is because we wanted to make sure the provider, or someone who could act on their behalf, would be available to support the inspection.

Bradbury Outreach Services provides personal care and support to people with learning disabilities who live in their own homes in Somerset and North East Somerset. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care and support to two people.

A registered manager was in post at the time of 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.

The provider operated safe recruitment procedures and ensured all pre-employment requirements were completed. Staff had received appropriate training to identify and respond to suspected abuse.

People received effective support from staff that had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. The provider ensured that new staff completed an induction training programme which prepared them for their role.

People’s rights were upheld in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. This is a legal framework to protect people who are unable to make certain decisions themselves.

Records showed that staff liaised with other healthcare professionals when it was appropriate to do so. This helped to ensure there was good communication and sharing of information about the person’s care needs.

Before people commenced a care package with the service, a full assessment of their needs was undertaken with the individual and other interested parties. This included gathering full information about the person’s care needs and their views on the kind of support they wished to receive.

People and their representatives spoke positively about the staff and told us they were caring.

People were given the opportunity to feedback their experience of the service through care planning reviews and surveys.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided by the service. There were quality audits in place reviewing the individual support plans, mental capacity assessments, supervision, training, feedback from individuals and staff rotas. Where improvements could be made action plans were implemented.