Vale View

Updated 5 June 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: The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector.

The service had a manager registered with (CQC). 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.

Service and service type: The service is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at on this inspection.

Notice of inspection: The inspection was unannounced.

What we did: We looked at information sent to us since the last inspection such as notifications about accidents and safeguarding alerts. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted the local authority commissioning and safeguarding teams and the local Healthwatch. Healthwatch are an independent organisation who listen to people’s views about local services and drive improvement by sharing those views with organisations who commission, deliver and regulate health and care services. We also sought feedback from professionals who worked with the service. This information helps support our inspections.

We spoke with six people who used the service, five members of staff including; the registered manager, the deputy manager and three support workers. Following the inspection, we spoke with two health and social care professionals and three relatives.

We reviewed a range of documents. This included two people’s care and medicine records. We looked at four staff recruitment and supervision records. Documents relating to the management of the service and policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 5 June 2019

About the service: Vale View is a care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to ten people, some of who may be living with learning disabilities and autism. At the time of the inspection nine 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 guidance, with the exception that the home accommodated more than six people. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live a life as any citizen and the staff within this service were exceptional in ensuring this was the case for people living at this home.

The vision of the service reflected these principles ensure people with learning disabilities have opportunities and choice and are supported to achieve their aspirations. Staff adopted the mission to provide person centred services that enable individuals to develop skills and behaviours to live independent lives.

Without exception, people were supported to achieve their goals. The staff and management team were creative, committed and determined to support people to live independent lives and challenge the barriers around supporting people with learning disabilities and autism.

The highly caring and inclusive culture at the service was outstanding. Staff demonstrated extremely caring values and showed a very positive regard for what was important and mattered to people. The trust developed between people and staff helped promote people's independence, confidence and helped them achieve excellent outcomes.

Respect for equality, diversity and inclusion was fully embedded within the service and integral to everything the staff did. Staff used innovative and effective ways to communicate with people and follow each person's wishes on their preferred method of communication.

People were supported to complete major achievements, relevant to each person’s individual wishes. People had made significant progress and the staff were proud of what they had accomplished and celebrated their achievements with them. People were supported with positive risk taking to develop their confidence and promote their independence.

People felt safe and were able to raise concerns. The registered manager and staff team provided safe care for people. They knew how to safeguard people from abuse and managed risk in ways that people continued to follow their lifestyle choices as much as possible. There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and they had been recruited in a safe way.

People received their medicines as prescribed and were supported to access health professionals when required and attend annual health checks. People’s nutritional needs were met and they received a varied and nutritional diet which they were involved in the planning and preparation of.

People were supported to make their own choices and decisions as much as possible. Where people lacked capacity, the provider and registered manager worked within mental capacity legislation and consulted with relevant people on important decisions made in their best interest.

The registered manager and staff had an excellent understanding of people's needs. Staff found ways to improve people's lives by introducing creative activities that opened new possibilities for people and encouraged them to be active and healthy.

The service was exceptionally well-led by a registered manager who demonstrated strong values, led by example and had embedded an open and caring culture. Improvements were driven by the consistently high levels of constructive engagement with people, their relatives, staff and stakeholders; whose views were valued and supported positive changes within the service. People's concerns and complaints were taken seriously.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and their approach was caring and considerate. Staff had appropriate skills and knowledge to deliver care and support people in a person-centred way. The environment was clean, tidy and well maintained. People using the service were supported by staff to ensure effective cleaning took place and to protect people from the risk of infection.

People told us they were happy with the service they received and felt staff had a clear understanding of their needs and preferences.

Rating at the last inspection: Good (published March 2016).

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

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.