About the service:

•North London Homecare and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency.

•It provides a personal care support service to people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, a mental health condition, a physical disability, sensory impairment, dementia, older people and younger adults living in their own homes and in supported living services.

•Not everyone using North London Homecare and Support Limited receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

•At the time of the inspection, it was providing personal care support to 39 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

•People and relatives told us the registered manager and office and care staff were exceptionally caring and this was evident in the whole ethos of the organisation.

•People received high-quality and person-centred care where staff knew people extremely well.

•People were encouraged to live their lives as independently as possible.

•People were encouraged to voice their wishes and aspirations and supported to live their dreams.

•Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were encouraged to use the service, and received personalised care that met their individualised needs.

•People were supported to identify and access activities that were meaningful and improved their wellbeing.

•The registered manager demonstrated exceptional leadership which positively impacted people’s and staff’s lives and the whole organisation.

•The registered manager had created excellent community links that benefitted people. They had a strong focus on reducing isolation and loneliness in the community.

•Staff were well supported, and their views and opinions listened to and used to improve the care delivery.

•Staff developed highly positive and trusting relationships with people and their relatives.

•Staff were provided with equal and inclusive developmental opportunities to progress their careers with the provider.

• The service was safe. People and relatives told us staff provided safe care. The provider ensured people's safety by involving outside organisations in promoting safety.

•People were supported by sufficient staff who were suitably recruited, and knew the risks associated with people’s needs and how to manage them safely.

•People were protected from the risk of abuse, harm, poor care and neglect.

•People’s needs were assessed before they started to receive support, and received consistent, timely and effective care.

•People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

•People were encouraged to live healthy lives with effective support from staff.

•People’s end of life care needs was met sensitively.

•People and relatives were satisfied with how complaints were addressed.

•The service met the characteristics of outstanding in caring and well-led.

Rating at last inspection:

•Good (report published 14 June 2016)

Why we inspected:

•This was a planned inspection to check that this service remained Good.

Follow up:

•We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

The inspection took place on 28 April and 29 April 2016. North London homecare and support provides support to individuals in their own home. The service supports individuals with a variety of care needs in Harlow and the surrounding areas, and at the time of the inspection was supporting 68 people living in either supported living accommodation or in their own homes.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associate Regulations about how the service is run.

People are supported by staff to live individually in their own homes or in small groups, referred to as independent supported living schemes. Different levels of support are provided over the 24 hour period dependent upon people's requirements. Many of the people are tenants of their home and pay rent for their accommodation which is leased from housing associations.

People were safe and staff knew what actions to take to protect them from abuse. The provider had processes in place to identify and manage risk.

The provider had systems in place to support people to take their prescribed medicines safely.

A robust recruitment process was in place and staff were recruited and employed upon completion of appropriate checks.

Care workers had positive relationships with people who used the services. Care was personalised and met people's individual needs and preferences. People, or their representatives, where appropriate, were involved in making decisions about their care and support and felt listened to and included. Care workers treated people with dignity and respect and promoted peoples independence.

Management and staff had good knowledge of legislative frameworks i.e. Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure people's rights were protected

People were supported with meals and to make choices about the food and drink they received. Staff supported people to maintain good health and access health care professionals when needed.

Assessments had been carried out and personalised support plans were in place which reflected individual needs and preferences.

The provider had an effective complaints procedure and people had confidence that concerns would be investigated and addressed.

People were supported to identify and carry out their own person centred interests as well as form a community of friends within the service

The registered manager and provider conducted regular audits and improvements were carried out when these had been identified. The quality of the service was monitored and assessed consistently. People who used the service, family members and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service they received.