Meadow View

Updated 25 July 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection took place on the 18 June 2018 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience. The expert by experience was someone who has experience of caring for a person with a learning disability.

The inspection was informed by information we held about the service. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This also included statutory notifications the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send to us by law. We considered the last inspection report and information that had been sent to us by other agencies. We also contacted commissioners who had a contract with the service for their feedback and reviewed their latest report.

During the inspection, we were unable to speak with people to gain their views about the service due to their communication needs. However, we spent time in the company of people and used observations of how staff engaged with people to help us understand people’s experiences.

We spoke with the registered manager and five support workers and two relatives by telephone. We also looked at the care records of four people who used the service. We checked that the care they received matched the information in their records. We also looked at a range of information to consider how the home ensured the quality of the service; these included the management of medicines, staff training records, staff recruitment and support, audits and checks on the safety of the environment, policies and procedures, complaints and meeting records.

Updated 25 July 2018

We inspected the service on 18 June 2018. The inspection was unannounced.

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. Meadow View accommodates up to 20 people with a learning disability in three bungalows on the same site. On the day of our inspection, 20 people were using the service.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

At the last inspection on 7 June 2016, the service was rated ‘Good’ overall and requires improvement within safe. This was because consideration had not been given to how certain products had been stored which may present a risk to some people, and some of the beds may not have been suitable. At this inspection, improvements had been made in these areas and we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and on going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Staff understood what constituted abuse or poor practice and systems and processes were in place to protect people from the risk of harm. People were protected against the risk of abuse, as checks were made to confirm staff were of good character and suitable to work in a care environment. There were sufficient staff available to support people. Medicines were managed safely and people were supported to take their medicine as prescribed.

Care continued to be effective as staff had knowledge about people’s care and support needs to enable this to be provided in a safe way. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The provider understood their responsibility to ensure people could make decisions about their care or be supported by others to make decisions in their best interests. Staff received training to enable them to continue to meet people’s needs and preferences. People were supported with their dietary needs and received care to maintain good health.

People were supported by staff who were caring and kind and who knew their needs, preferences and what was important to them. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity, encouraged people with making choices, and promoted independence. Relatives and health and care professionals were involved with how care and support needed to be provided.

People had opportunities to develop and maintain their hobbies and interests, both at home and in the local community. There were processes in place for people to raise any complaints and express their views and opinions about the service provided. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and enable the provider to drive improvement. Relatives and staff were positive about the management team. The provider had an on going action plan that showed how the service was continually improving.