Amelia House

Updated 15 October 2020

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 and an assistant inspector..

Service and service type

Amelia House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 is also registered to provide personal care to people living in their own houses, and specialist housing.

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 inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, team leader, and support workers. We spent time observing care to help us understand the experience of people at the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 15 October 2020

Amelia House is a care home registered to provide accommodation and personal care to adults and young people transitioning between services with physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorders. The service can support up to 10 people in one adapted building. At the start of inspection there were nine people living at Amelia House, with a tenth person joining the service during the inspection process. The provider had recently added the activity of personal care to their registration to enable them to support people to move into a community setting with the same staff core group. This support had not commenced at the time of this inspection.

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’s experience of using this service and what we found

Amelia House was exceptional at placing people at the heart of the service. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture. Staff were highly motivated to offer care and support that was exceptionally compassionate and kind. The registered manager alongside staff placed the upmost value on people having as many opportunities as possible to develop their confidence, gain new skills and become as independent as they could.

People were treated with the utmost respect dignity, empathy, and compassion. People and relative told us the care provided for individuals exceeded expectations and they were happy. The ethos of the service was to empower people to live a life of their choosing. Staff had gone to great lengths to ensure peoples preferences and voices were heard, to ensure the support provided achieved this.

People were supported to take positive risks towards independence, using a creative and comprehensive approach to risk taking. This encouraged people to get the most of their support and achieve their goal to be as independent as possible.

Staff were exceptionally caring. They all shared the same hopes and aspirations for people to continue to live the lifestyle of their choice. People's voices were of paramount importance in the service.

People’s physical and emotional wellbeing had improved with the support from proactive and dedicated staff. There was clear and consistent working with other professionals.

Where people lacked capacity to consent to some aspects of their care arrangements, 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 outcomes for people using the service truly reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the promotion of choice, control, independence and inclusion. The management team constantly looked for ways to improve the service. They had engaged people with complex emotional and behavioural needs in decisions and feedback at every opportunity. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

The aspirational leadership by the registered manager ensured their vision was embedded within all the staff team. Support was bespoke and truly person centred. There was a culture of continuous improvement with a clear focus on ensuring any changes enhanced the quality of the service people received.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was inspected on 5 September 2019 and published 2 January 2020. The service was not rated at this time as there was no one living there.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the history of this service and because it had not been rated when we last inspected. 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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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.