Vision Homes Association - 1B Toll Gate Road

Updated 21 May 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 planned this inspection to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type:

Vision Homes Association – 1B Toll Gate Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and we looked at both 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:

We carried out the inspection visit, unannounced, on 22 March 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection visit we looked at information we held about the home and used this information as part of our inspection planning. The information included notifications. Notifications are information on important events that happen in the home that the provider must let us know about. In May 2018 the provider had sent us a completed provider information return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During our inspection we saw how the staff interacted with people who lived at the home. We spoke with two people who lived there and two relatives who were visiting. We also spoke with two members of staff: the deputy manager and one support worker.

We looked at one person’s care records as well as other records relating to the management of the home, such as medicine administration records and internal audits.

By 3 April 2019, we had received information from the registered manager, one person’s relatives, and two external professionals who met people regularly. We have included some of their comments in the report.

Updated 21 May 2019

About the service:

Vision Care Homes – 1B Toll Gate Road is a residential care home that provides personal care to up to five adults. People who live there have complex needs relating to visual impairment, along with other conditions, such as learning disability, physical disability or acquired brain injury. This care home is one of three bungalows on one site, which all provide care to a similar group of people. A fourth bungalow on the site provides additional communal space. On the day we visited there were five people living at 1B Toll Gate Road.

The three care homes were inspected on the same day. Although they each have a registered manager and their own staff team, they work closely together and provide the same level of service. The three reports of the inspections are therefore very similar.

People’s experience of using this service:

People who lived at 1B Toll Gate Road received outstanding care from a staff team who were passionate about delivering a high-quality, person-centred service. People were truly valued and were cared for and supported by an exceptionally dedicated, compassionate and caring team of staff and managers. Staff knew each person exceedingly well, which meant they could provide the highest quality service to meet individual needs and preferences.

People’s views were respected and they were involved in everything that happened in the home. People showed they were happy to be living there and had very good relationships with the staff. A relative said, “The home is totally brilliant and the staff have been absolutely amazing. The staff have done remarkably well with [our family member] and they’ve lifted us up and supported us as well.” External professionals were very complimentary about the service provided by the staff and all said they would recommend the home.

People were safe and protected by practices and procedures that put their safety and well-being as a priority. The provider had systems in place to manage risks and keep people safe from avoidable harm. Staff followed good practice guidelines to prevent the spread of infection and gave people their medicines safely.

There were enough staff to meet people’s care and support needs. Staff had been recruited well to ensure they were suitable to work at this home. They had undertaken training in a wide range of topics to make sure they could do their job properly. Staff felt valued and supported by the provider, their managers and each other.

Staff supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The size of service meets current best practice guidance. This promotes people living in a small domestic style property to enable them to have the opportunity of living a full life.

The principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance ensure people with a learning disability and or autism who use a service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best outcomes, that include control, choice and independence. At this inspection the provider had ensured they were applied.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways: promotion of choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as fulfilling and enjoyable a life as they chose to lead.

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

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection we rated this service Good (report published on 10 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the last rating.

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