We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 24 November 2016.

Essex/London is registered to provide people with personal care within their own homes. They currently care for one person who has a learning disability and is on the autistic spectrum. The service provides this person with personal care and also supports them to access the community throughout the day, they currently support this person for approximately 12 hours each weekday.

The service had a 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.

The service took steps to ensure people were safe. Systems were in place to record and report incidents and accidents, including incidents of potential abuse. Risks were fully assessed and regularly reviewed, to ensure staff had an awareness of the best ways to control risks, whilst still promoting the person's independence. There were enough staff to meet the person's needs and staff members had background checks completed to ensure they were safe to work with people and of good character and were provided with training to enable them to administer people's medicines safely.

Staff also received general training and supervisions, to help them perform their roles. These helped the service to ensure staff had the skills they needed to meet the person's needs. The person were encouraged to make choices and provide consent to their care and support arrangements and there were systems in place to ensure the service followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, if they were unable to make these decisions. The service encouraged the person to be as independent as possible with food and drink preparation, but were also able to provide support to ensure they received adequate nutrition. Staff supported the person to book and attend appointments with relevant healthcare professionals.

The person were treated with kindness and compassion by staff at the service. They worked hard to get to know the person and their families and to build strong professional relationships with them. Care plans were written with as much input as possible from the person and their families and they were involved in making decisions about the way care was provide. The service took steps to ensure that the person were treated with dignity and respect.

Care plans were person-centred. They were based upon the specific needs of the person and reflected their wishes and goals. Staff members worked to make sure people's care reflected these care plans and that care was provided in the way they wanted it to be. The provider welcomed people's feedback and there were systems in place to receive and act on comments or complaints raised.

There was a positive and open culture at the service. The provider was motivated by helping the person gain increased independence and achieving their goals. The person and their family member were aware of who the registered manager was and had regular access to them. The registered manager had also carried out quality assurance procedures to help them review and improve the quality of care provided. They had clear goals about the development of the service, but would only expand their service delivery if it did not have an impact on the person they currently cared for.

Global Inspirations provided support to one person. The person was unable to verbally communicate with us at the inspection but was able to explain through gestures and pictures that they were content and felt safe. We saw the service offered a choice of menu for each meal and also a choice of drinks and were responsive to the person’s needs. There was a plan for each day of social activities the person had chosen to do such as bowling and visiting the cinema.

The service was effective as it had put in place systems for monitoring the quality of the service provided. There was an accessible complaints policy and procedure should the service fall below expectation. There was a procedure to make sure only suitable staff were employed, and a staff rota showing adequate staff cover at all times and suitable on-call arrangements for emergency cover. This meant there were systems in place to ensure the service was well managed and responsive to people’s needs.