An autism centre has been found to “require improvement” after a surprise inspection.

The Hoffmann Foundation for Autism care home in Park Avenue, Wood Green, received an unannounced visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between August 18 and 26.

The home, which cares for five people with learning difficulties or autism, was rated as “good” for being caring, responsive and well-led, but the lower “requires improvement” ranking for the important factors of whether the service is safe and effective.

It does however mark an improvement for the home on its previous inspection in March 2015, when the service was rated as unsafe and needing improvement in all areas.

The CQC report said it had been forced to give the home the second lowest possible ranking because, despite some improvements, documents on patients were inconsistent, sometimes listing differences in patient behaviour, support and symptoms from one report to the next.

It was also noted patient money was being checked, after the 2015 report said “arrangements for looking after people’s money did not ensure financial abuse could not take place.”

The report says: “The service was not always safe. We found a number of inconsistences between risk assessments and associated documents. Some of the risk assessments were not detailed enough to support staff in their caring role.

“The service was not always effective. Records of health and behavioural patterns was not always consistent.”

Hoffmann were praised for involving patients and relatives in how their care was organised.

The report says: “Staff maintained people’s dignity and privacy.

“There were clear lines of communication and staff were encouraged to give their views about service changes.”

Hoffmann have been contacted for comment.