Consensus Community Support Limited – Reddan Street provides care and support to people, living in ‘supported living’ accommodation, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate arrangements; this inspection looked at the personal care and support arrangements. There were 16 people using the service when we carried out the inspection on the 1, 10 and 22 March 2017. The service comprised of four supported living premises in Essex and Suffolk, for people on the autistic spectrum and who may have complex needs, we visited three of these premises during our inspection.

This was an announced inspection. Three of the premises we planned to visit covered a large geographical area which required time to arrange with the provider. Therefore the provider was given 72 hours’ notice because the people living in the supported living accommodations’ have complex needs and can need time to prepare to take part in the inspection.

A registered manager had not been in post since 6 August 2016. 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’s regional area manager was in the process of registering with the CQC. They were supported by three managers who were in day to day charge of the four supported living premises.

The service was exceptionally well led. There was visible and effective leadership within the service. The service was effectively organised and well run with an open and transparent culture. The management team demonstrated how their robust quality assurance systems had sustained continual development and improvement at the service. They were clear about their expectations relating to how the service should be provided and led by example.

Retention of staff was good and supported continuity of care. Support workers enjoyed their jobs and understood their roles and responsibilities. They were passionate about the care and support they delivered to people and were positive about the way the service was managed and how they were supported to professionally develop.

Ensuring people received personalised care and support which enhanced their quality of life was integral to the running of the service. An enabling and supportive culture focused on meeting the individual needs of people within their supported living environments’ had been established.

People and or their representatives, where appropriate, were involved in making decisions about their care and support arrangements. As a result people received tailored care and support which was effectively planned and delivered to meet their specific needs, take account of their wishes and keep them safe. This led to people experiencing an excellent service which was distinctive to their individual needs.

People and their relatives were complimentary about the care provided. They told us their support workers were kind and attentive and they trusted them to come into their homes. They described how they received safe and effective care by, support workers who knew them well and encouraged them to be as independent as possible and to achieve their goals and aspirations.

There were robust procedures and processes to ensure the safety of the people who used the service. These included risk assessments which identified how the risks to people were minimised but also ensured their rights and choices were respected.

Support workers had received safeguarding training and understood what actions to take to protect people from abuse. They were able to confidently describe the different types of abuse that may occur and how it should be reported.

Where people required assistance to take their medicines there