Wallace Mews

Updated 15 February 2024

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 checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Wallace Mew is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Wallace Mews is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service which supports people with a learning disability, and we needed to be sure people were prepared for us visiting their home and they had given permission for us to review their accommodation.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 3 people who lived at the service. Not everyone who lived at Wallace Mews was able to speak with us directly, but we observed people looked happy and relaxed in the company of staff. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, 2 care workers and 2 kitchen staff. We looked at a range of documents and records and reviewed items on the provider’s electronic records system. Following the inspection, we spoke with 2 professionals and 2 relatives on the telephone.

Updated 15 February 2024

About the service

Wallace Mews is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 15 people. The service provides support to people living with a learning and / or physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

People were supported in a way that respected them as individuals and their personal and cultural choices. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and care records contained good detail to support staff in appropriately helping people. There was a friendly and homely atmosphere at the service and people and staff enjoyed each other’s company. One relative told us, “It’s all lovely. I wouldn’t have them anywhere else. It's perfect.”

Right Care

People received high quality care from staff who had completed a range of training and were well supported by management. Care records contained information about risks related to support and how staff should deal with or mitigate these risks. Doors in some areas were left unlocked posing a potential hazard. The registered manager addressed this issue. People looked happy and relaxed in the company of staff and had a good relationship with them. Staff looked to ensure people lived the best life they could.

Right Culture

There was a strong culture of delivering high quality care. All staff were committed to ensuring people had the same opportunities and access to services as the wider public. There was strong and effective leadership at the home, which proactively advocated for people. Family members and professionals all praised the service and said people’s lives had been enhanced from living at the home.

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

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (Published 30 July 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for Wallace Mews on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.