The Tobias Centre

Updated 17 August 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one assistant inspector.

Service and service type

The Tobias Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. The Tobias Centre is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection the service did not have a registered manager. However, a new manager was in post and they were applying to register as manager .

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We used information gathered as part of our monitoring activity that took place on 19 April 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We were introduced to the people living at the service, they were not able to speak with us, so we observed and listened to staff interactions with people. We spoke with three relatives and three staff members as well as the manager of the service. We also contacted three health-care professionals.

We reviewed a range of records, which included two peoples care records, medication records, recruitment and training files along with a range of audits.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service which included a service improvement plan and quality assurance records.

Updated 17 August 2022

About the service

The Tobias Centre is a residential care service providing the regulated activity of personal care to up to maximum of seven people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were six people using the service.

The Tobias Centre is an adapted building and contains two apartments in the basement floor along with individual apartments for other people on the other floors. There are communal rooms that provide sufficient space for people to spend time alone with the support of staff if they wish.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

Based on our review of Safe and Well-led the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, Right care, Right culture.

Right Support

People were supported to have control of their daily lives and staff supported people to live as independently as possible. Staff supported people to take part in activities they enjoyed, within and outside the home. People’s medicines were managed safely. People’s risks were managed to ensure they were kept safe whilst promoting independence.

People received care and support from skilled and knowledgeable staff who were able to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People were supported to access health and social care services when they needed them. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care

Staff knew people well and ensured they received the care and support they needed to keep them safe and to meet their individual needs.

Right Culture

Staff engaged with people in a respectful way and understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The manager was available and visible to people, their relatives and staff which promoted an open, inclusive and empowering culture.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was 'Requires Improvement' (published 13 August 2019) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Tobias Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.