The Care Quality Commission
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  • Care home

Archived: Choice Support - 181 Carlingford Road

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Carlingford Road, Haringey, London, N15 3ET (020) 8888 8916

Provided and run by:
Choice Support

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

18 May 2017

During a routine inspection

Choice Support - 181 Carlingford Road is a care home registered for four people. The home provides accommodation and care for people who have a learning disability and autistic spectrum condition. At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The home had been completely refurbished in the last year so was homely and well decorated. Staff supported people with personal care and to follow their interests and preferred routines. Risks were assessed and managed to help people keep safe.

The two people living in the home enjoyed their day to day life supported by staff who knew their needs and wishes. One person told us, “I like it, good." The other person was not able to talk to us. We spent time with people in the home and saw they were relaxed and able to make choices for themselves, for example what time to eat their dinner and what to do with their time.

Staff had regular training relevant to their role and regular individual supervision sessions with the registered manager where they were able to discuss their work. Staff said they were supported well to do the job.

People received their prescribed medicines safely and their health needs were met. Staff supported them to attend medical appointments and undergo treatment. They had support to eat a healthy diet and follow a healthy lifestyle.

Staff supported people to maintain their relationships with their families. Families of people living in the home were satisfied with the care provided to their relative.

The registered manager led the home well and was supported by an experienced deputy manager. Choice Support checked on the quality of the service to ensure it remained good. They learned from incidents and took action to make improvements.

The service met all relevant fundamental standards. Further information is in the detailed findings below.

12 November 2014

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 12 November 2014 and was announced as we notified the registered manager the day before the inspection that we were coming. The previous inspection was on 7 August 2013. We took into account the service’s inspection history, including an outstanding breach of regulation about the way Choice Support managed people’s finances. We found there had been some improvement in how they managed people’s money for them.

This care home provides accommodation and care to four people who have a learning disability, some of whom also have an autistic spectrum condition. At the time of this inspection there were four people living in the home in single bedrooms. People shared a lounge and two bathrooms.

There was a registered manager in the home. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found people were cared for by suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff who knew their needs well. Staff supported people to follow their own chosen routines and to take part in activities they liked, such as trampolining, visiting places of worship, walking and Art.

People’s care plans contained a good level of information setting out exactly how each person should be supported to ensure their needs were met. Staff followed the care plans and had good relationships with the people living at the home.

The service showed good practice in supporting people with their physical and mental health needs and in making decisions for themselves.

The house was safe but the service was waiting for some maintenance of the decor and furnishings.

People’s snack food was stored in the office where they had to go and request it. This was not a person centred arrangement. We have made a recommendation to improve the arrangements for people’s daily routines so that they always respect each person’s needs and wishes.

The home was well managed and the registered manager supervised and supported staff to ensure they did their job well. Where things had gone wrong, appropriate action was taken to make sure the same mistakes were not made again. For example, where a mistake had been made in giving somebody the wrong medicines, staff were suspended from giving medicines until they had further training and the registered manager had assessed their competence. The registered manager notified relevant people of any incidents as required. Choice Support checked that the registered manager was running the home to a good standard and checked to make sure any recommended improvements were made.

7 August 2013

During a routine inspection

We used different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service, because the people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not all able to tell us their experiences. We spoke to professionals involved with their care and we looked at care records to see what people's care needs were and what care had been provided.

We found that staff knew people's needs and their care plans were comprehensive. We found that people's health needs were met. Each person had an individual timetable of activities and there were enough staff on duty to support them to go out when they wanted to. Care was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were supported to lead full active lives and follow their individual interests.

People were generally protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. They were not fully protected from risk of financial abuse due to lack of written agreements about which services they had to pay for and which services Choice Support would provide.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive and to identify and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people who use the service and others.

11 July 2012

During a routine inspection

We looked at documents and inspected the premises. We spoke with the home's manager, deputy manager and a member of staff.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service, because the people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not all able to tell us their experiences. We spoke to professionals involved with their care and we looked at care records to see what people's care needs were and what care had been provided.

We spoke with one person who lived in the home. One person answered some written questions for us. One person told us they liked living at this home and thought staff were "good" and they felt safe there. The other person said that staff supported them to visit their Mum which they liked. This person said "No" when we asked if they liked living at this home. This person was not able to explain why. This person did tell us that another person living at the home had "smacked" them and ripped their clothes.

The two other people did not want to meet with us on the day of the inspection.

We asked for comments from social workers who have been involved with people living at this home. They thought the care provided was generally good but one person had some concerns about the impact of one person's challenging behaviour on the other people living in the home.