Plume Avenue is a small care provider providing intensive support for up to four people who have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service.

There is a registered manager at this location. 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 had a thorough induction and fully understood their roles and responsibilities, as well as the values and philosophy of the service. Staff were appropriately trained and skilled and provided care in a safe environment. Staff had completed extensive training to help them to provide care to people who use the service.

People had their needs and requests responded to promptly, and their were enough staff to meet their care needs. Medicines were managed safely and staff members understood their responsibilities. The registered manager conducted regular audits and improvements were carried out when any shortfalls had been identified. Quality was monitored and assessed consistently.

People were regularly asked by staff if they were happy and how they wanted to be supported. Staff members understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and were able to describe their responsibilities to seek the consent of the people they supported. When people were thought to lack mental capacity the provider had taken the appropriate action to make sure their care did not restrict their movement and rights under the MCA. Decisions about the care people received were made by the people who had the legal right to do so.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people's independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible.

People who used the service, family members, and visitors were made aware of how to make a compliment, complaint, or comment and there was an effective complaints policy and procedure in place.

People regularly used community services and facilities and had links with the local community. Surveys were completed about the quality of the service and action plans put in place.

We arrived at the service at 3pm and talked with all of the people who were using the service at the time of our inspection. They told us that they got on well with the staff that supported them to access the local community and in making healthy choices about their food shopping and menu planning. One person told us, “I’d have fried egg sandwich every day, but they (pointing towards the staff) make sure I eat what’s good for me.”

People also told us that they got on well with the staff that supported them. We saw one person helping to set the table for their evening meal. When we asked if they liked setting the table they told us, “I do, I help them.” We saw that staff took time to make sure that people gave their consent as they worked with them and that they gave people an opportunity to respond to questions.

The manager of the service was on annual leave. However, the manager of another service in the organisation who was on call came to the service to assist us.

We looked at recruitment records for four members of staff. We saw that the provider had effective recruitment and selection procedures in place. We spoke with the one staff member staff on duty. They confirmed that they had been recruited in line with the provider’s policy.

We found that the provider's management monitoring systems ensured that people lived in a safe, well maintained environment.

We talked with two of the people living in Plume House, they told us that they liked living in the service. People also told us that they got on well with the staff, who supported them to go out, to follow their favourite activities, to be part of the local community and to go on holiday. They also told us that their bedrooms were comfortable and that they had their own belongings around them.

We observed that the staff were attentive to people’s needs. Staff interacted with people in a friendly, respectful and professional manner. We saw that staff sought people’s agreement before providing any support or assistance. The people we saw were relaxed and engaged with their surroundings.

We saw that people were protected by the service’s safeguarding policy and that staff were supported in their work by being offered appropriate training and supervision.

People were encouraged and supported to make complaints. Staff on duty told us that they tried to ensure that complaints were dealt with informally and we saw that complaints that had been received were dealt with in line with the provider’s complaints procedure.