Old Station Close

Old Station Close is a 21-bed residential home providing personal care to 20 people, some with mental health needs and others with a learning disability. The care home supports people in a purpose built property.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People’s social care and integration in the community had recently been the focus of the newly registered manager. This had concentrated on people’s one to one hours and ensured their opinions and wishes, content and timing were focussed to provide the best outcome for them. This had increased people’s choice and significantly improved their influence on their individual leisure time out of the home. This had a positive effect on people and truly reflected the values of Registering the Right Support. Staff knew people’s individual needs informed by well detailed care and support plans.

Staff had given considerable thought to people’s end of life choices and had recently provided a considered, thoughtful and poignant celebration. There was a complaints process in place which was managed effectively and allowed people to voice their opinion.

Risks had been assessed prior to people moving into the home. Medicines were stored and administered safely, people were supported with their medicines in a safe way. Recruitment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with people at the service. Staffing levels were suitable to provide people with excellent individual support and good overall levels of care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Training for staff was linked to people’s individual support needs. The staff team felt involved in the running of the home and felt supported by the newly registered manager and senior staff. Staff had supervision and spot checks from the management team to ensure they met people’s needs and adhered to the staff training plan. Staff respond to and supported people’s health and care needs.

People were provided with a varied diet which met their individual cultural needs. People were encouraged to develop self-help skills which included catering, budgeting and personal development to enable progression to independent living.

People were fully involved in making decisions about their care and their consent was obtained prior to offering care. People were supported by a staff team who were kind and caring and treated them in a considerate and respectful manner. Staff promoted people’s privacy and dignity.

The systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service being highlighted changes that were required to ensure peoples safety. People’s views of the service were sought through regular meetings and surveys. The registered manager understood their role and responsibilities as a registered person. They worked in partnership with other agencies to ensure people received care and support that was consistent with their assessed needs.

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

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

Old Station Close is a residential care home that provides care for up to 21 people who live with learning disabilities and mental health. The building is purpose built with accommodation in three distinct areas, all with single rooms with and en-suite facility. People have access to a landscaped garden. At the time of our inspection 21 people were using the service.

At our last inspection in March 2015, the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found that the service continued to be ‘Good’.

People continued to receive safe care. All staff, including care workers and domestic staff knew how to recognise and report any signs that people were abused or at risk of abuse.

The provider had assessed risks relating to people’s care to help them to remain safe whilst encouraging them to be as independent as they wanted to be. The provider had procedures in place for staff to report concerns and for those concerns to be investigated and acted upon.

Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to people to meet their needs. People were supported to receive their medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision and training that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were supported with their nutritional and health needs and were supported to access health services when they needed to.

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

People developed positive relationships with the staff that were caring and treated them with respect, kindness and dignity.

People consistently experienced care and support from staff which helped them to achieve their aspirations to lead more independent lives. People’s needs were met in line with their individual care plans and assessed needs.

People and their relatives felt they could raise a concern and the provider had systems to manage any complaints that they may receive.

The provider had effective arrangements for monitoring and assessing the quality of care people experienced. These included seeking and acting upon the views for people who used the service, their relatives, staff and health professionals who visited the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We saw evidence that consent was gained for specific care and support. For example, we saw in one care record that consent was gained for unsupported leave and an advance statement of who to contact in the event of deterioration in capacity to make informed decisions. Another record clearly showed that consent had been sought to agree the introduction of a special diet.

All the people we spoke with told us they felt well cared for. One person told us: 'I am happy and well care for'. Another person told us: 'They are kind and care for me well'.

People told us they had a choice of what they wished to eat and that on the whole the food was enjoyable. One person told us: 'We have choices of meals and if we do not like what is on offer they will make us something else.'

We asked staff about their work pattern and saw a daily and weekly cleaning schedule. Staff explained to us they had a programme of tasks to be completed on a daily and weekly basis. We noted that on completion of the task the staff signed to confirm the task had been done.

We saw documented evidence that supervision and appraisal sessions had taken place. We spoke to a number of staff and asked them to describe the support they received to enable them to carry out their duties. All told us they were well supported.

We found Old Station Close to be well maintained and it provided a welcoming environment. The care we observed being delivered to people using the service was supportive and appropriate. We found evidence of cooperation between the care home and external health professionals and this ensured that care was delivered in a manner that best suited individual care needs.