SENSE Holmlea

“Who the service is for:”

“The service supports people with sensory needs, including autism, learning disability and additional health care needs.”

“Our view of the service:”

“Key findings”

“We carried out this assessment on 24 July 2026. This service was previously rated good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.”

“We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We were assured the service met the principles of ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ and people received safe, person-centred and outcomes focused care and support.”

“Staffing levels were appropriate, and staff had the necessary skills to meet people’s comprehensive needs which included physical disability, learning disability, sensory needs and health needs. Staff had adequate training and their competencies were assessed to help them deliver safe, effective care.”

“A staff member told us, “I have had face to face training for first aid which covered the topics of emergencies, diabetes and recognising health conditions, and a separate face to face training for epilepsy. I am medication trained and had my assessment of competence.”Some staff had completed end of life training and others had not which was raised with the registered manager.”

“A staff member told us, “The team seems to all work well together and complement each other’s strengths. ”Another said, “I feel part of the team and respected.””

“Staff told us they felt well supported by the management team and the out of hours support. One staff said, “I feel both my manager and deputy are responsive to my questions, and it is nice that they have an open-door policy.” Another said the out of hours on call was sometimes difficult as it could be covered by a manager who was not familiar with the service, However the on-call was a 2 tier system and the registered manager told us they were local and could be contacted.”

“The registered manager was complimentary about their staff and their abilities. Ongoing support and recognition of staff’s talents and skill set could be enhanced by the development of further champion roles, train the trainer and a greater take up of national recognised qualifications. There was a registered manager and deputy manager and a team lead had recently been appointed to enhance the running of the service.”

“The environment was appropriate to people’s needs and was spacious, personalised and very clean. People had the equipment they needed to support safe care. No risks to people’s environment were identified and regular maintenance checks helped ensure people’s safety.”

“We observed lunch time and interactions across the day between staff and people using the service. These were wholly positive and demonstrated to us that staff were skilled communicators and treated people with respect and dignity. A staff member told us, “We are a really good team, and all have the same goal to give our guys, their families all the love and support we can to make their lives fulfilling.” Electronic care plans clearly described people’s needs andvwhat was important to them to help ensure any care delivery was person centred.”

“Activities were provided sensitively around people’s needs and assessed risks. Whilst staff took people out and this included…”