Litslade Farm

Updated 7 March 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. This inspection was planned 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.

Service and service type:

• Litslade Farm is a residential home for adults with learning and physical disabilities.

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:

• The inspection was unannounced, which means the provider and staff at the location did not know we were visiting.

What we did:

• Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, this included notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes or events that occur at the service which the provider has a legal duty to inform us about. We used information the provider sent us in the 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.

• During the inspection we viewed the home and its grounds. We observed how care was provided to people. Some people were unable to tell us about their experiences of living at Litslade Farm because of communication difficulties. We therefore 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.

• During the inspection we reviewed a selection of care records for each of the people living in the home and recruitment records for three staff. We analysed information related to health and safety, incidents and accidents, staff training, supervision and audits connected to the running of the service. We spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, one support worker and one care assistant. Following the inspection, we spoke with three relatives of people living in the service.

Updated 7 March 2019

About the service: Litslade farm is a residential care home that was providing personal care to five adults with learning disabilities at the time of the inspection.

The service was a five-bedroom bungalow. It was registered for the support of up to five people. This is in line with current best practice guidance. The building design fitted into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people. At the time of the inspection five people were living in the service.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

• People’s relatives spoke positively about the service and the staff. Comments included “I am extremely happy with the care given to [named person]. They personalise everything. They show a great deal of caring.” “Both I and [named person] are listened to. Things have really improved there since the new manager started. [Registered manager] has taken so much on board I cannot praise her enough. The staff are fab, they are really good.” “The service is wonderful. [Named person] has always been well looked after, they are always happy and content.”

• People’s needs were assessed prior to care commencing.

• Staff were trained to meet people’s individual needs. Staff were committed and focused on providing good quality care.

• The registered manager understood the requirements of their role and played a pivotal part in establishing a high-quality service. People’s mental and physical health was maintained. Their wishes and desires were explored with them to assist them to achieve their goals.

• People lived and participated in village life.

• People were supported 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.

• 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, inclusion] e.g. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

Rating at last inspection: The last inspection the service was rated Good. (14 April 2016).

Why we inspected: We inspected the service as part of our scheduled inspection plan.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care.