Ashingham House

Updated 12 January 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Ashingham House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at 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:

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the funding authorities. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan our inspection.

People living at Ashingham House were not able to fully share with us their experiences of living at the service. Therefore, we spent time observing staff with people in communal areas during the inspection. We spoke with one person’s family who were visiting the service. We spoke with three staff, one agency staff, the chef and registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, reviewed medicine records. We also looked at two staff recruitment files, supervision and training records of all staff. We reviewed records relating to the management of the home and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 12 January 2019

What life was like for people using the service:

The service continued to provide high quality, person centred care. Potential risks to people’s health, safety and welfare had been assessed and there was guidance in place for staff to follow to reduce the risks. Staff supported people to take positive risks to live their lives to the full.

Information from audits, incidents and quality checks were used to drive improvements and provided person centred support. Staff received training, supervision and were informed about new national guidelines to keep their practice up to date to meet people’s individual needs.

Staff understood people’s communication needs and had worked with people to provide positive behaviour support, to understand what people were trying to communicate. People were supported to be as independent as possible and learn new skills.

People were supported to take part in various activities that they enjoyed. Staff understood how this enabled people to have a good quality of life. The service was promoted links with the community and invited them to parties and celebrations.

More information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at the last inspection:

Good (report published 15 July 2016).

About the service:

Ashingham House is a residential care home that accommodates up to 10 people living with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection eight people were living at 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 guidelines. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary life as any citizen ‘Registering the Right Support’ CQC policy.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We found that the service continued to meet the characteristics of Good in all areas. The overall rating is Good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.