Stoke House

Updated 31 December 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Stoke House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and we sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including, the registered manager, the quality and compliance manager, a team leader and two care and support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five peoples care records and multiple medication records. We looked at records in relation to training and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the environment and the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. Policies and procedures, satisfaction questionnaires , monitoring reports and, an improvement plan were provided together with analysis of incidents, copies of staff rotas and a dependency tool.

Updated 31 December 2019

About the service

Stoke House is a care home service that provides care for up to 12 people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were 11 people living at the home.

The care home accommodates 12 people across two buildings. One building has one self-contained flat which accommodates one individual. The second building comprises of three communal lounges, a kitchen and dining room, individual bedrooms and two shared bathrooms to accommodate 11 people. There is also a communal garden area. This home is larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People were exceptionally well supported with access to health care services. The staff and management team had a clear understanding of the importance and benefits of ongoing health screening and oral care in maintaining people’s health. The staff and management team had worked in partnership with healthcare professionals to support people to access healthcare services in a kind and supportive manner with positive results for people.

People’s emotional and psychological wellbeing was treated with equal importance as their physical health. The staff and management team understood the impact that reaching goals and ambitions had on emotional well-being and promoting independence. People were well supported with their goals and ambitions and had achieved positive outcomes including academic success and work experience opportunities.

Staff were well trained and supported. Specialist training had taken place for both people and staff to ensure they worked together well as a team and understood and respected each other as individuals. Healthy relationships with food were encouraged by using Imaginative ways to engage and interest people in healthy foods and cooking with positive results.

People were safe, risk assessments were in place and considered risk to people as well as risk in the environment, they were reviewed regularly to ensure safe care continued. Staff and people had received training and could recognise signs of abuse, they had access to a safeguarding lead if needed to help with reporting. The home was clean, smelt fresh and was well maintained. Staff had access to gloves and aprons which they used when providing personal care, ensuring people were protected from the spread of infection.

Staff were recruited safely, recruitment procedures ensured only suitable staff were employed. Medicines were managed, stored and disposed of safely. Senior staff were trained and responsible for giving people their medicine. Regular medicine checks ensured that any errors could be identified and managed quickly. Staff were trained and had the skills needed to do their job. They received regular training updates and support and were well supervised.

People received personalised care and were involved in the care planning process. People's choices, lifestyle, religion and culture as well as their personal, emotional and health care needs were all considered and planned into care delivery.

Pre-admission assessments and visits took place to ensure the service could meet people's needs prior to them moving into the home. People and staff had access to a complaints procedure and complaints were responded to in line with the providers policy.

The provider, management team and staff had developed an open and honest culture and had good knowledge of their responsibilities. The registered manager and provider had good oversight of the service from the quality monitoring processes in place and analysed findings for learning and improvement.

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.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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

Rating at last inspection The last rating for this service was good (published 19 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.