Balby

Updated 11 January 2024

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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Balby 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. Balby 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 spoke with 3 people that used the service. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with 3 support workers, 2 team leaders and the registered manager. We looked at 2 care plans, 2 medicines records, policies and procedures and information relating to the management of the service. After the inspection we spoke to 2 relatives.

Updated 11 January 2024

About the service

Balby is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 8 people. The service provides support to younger adults who live with a learning disability, mental health conditions or autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

People were supported extremely well by staff who had a strong understanding of how to promote their independence and provide the maximum choice possible. Staff supported people to achieve their goals and aspirations, by empowering people and identifying people's strengths. People enjoyed a fulfilled life, participating in activities meaningful to them both within the service and while accessing their local community. The support people received was adjusted to specifically meet their individual needs, to provide the best outcomes for 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

People's diverse needs were considered in all aspects of their care; this included care planning, risk assessing and the day to day support people received. Staff were guided on how to provide exceptional individualised person-centred support with detailed care plans which provided clear guidance on people's wishes. The provider worked in partnership with external professionals involved in people's care and ensured decisions involved them, the people important to them and people who knew them well. Staff had a good understanding of how to support people safely and demonstrated their knowledge of safeguarding. People’s individualised communication needs were clearly recorded. The provider and staff understood the importance of adjusting their approach to people's preferred way of communicating. People's medicines were managed safely, and they were consulted on how they wished to take their medication; staff encouraged people to become independent on administering their own medicines.

Right Culture

One of the key strengths of the service was the registered manager and the leadership and values they implemented within the service. People led inclusive, empowered lives. This was consistently driven by the registered manager and subsequently staff who felt they were supported well by the registered manager. People were continuously supported to achieve their goals and develop their aspirations through innovative care and support. Quality of life was enhanced by a culture of consistent development, improvement and working in partnership with people, and those important to them including external professionals. Any concerns or complaints were managed professionally, transparently and with integrity.

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 13 March 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted due to the time since the last inspection.

Follow Up

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

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring, responsive and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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