Cherwell Centre

Updated 11 December 2018

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

This was an announced inspection and was conducted by two adult social care inspectors and an assistant inspector on the 10 and 11 October 2018.

We requested and received a provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help plan the inspection.

Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications the provider had made to us. Notifications tell us about any incidents or events that affect people who use the service. We also asked Rochdale Healthwatch and local authority for their views of the service and they did not have any concerns.

We spoke with ten people who used the service, three relatives, the registered manager, the business and development manager, a supported living service coordinator, the quality and performance manager, two shared lives placement officers and eight support staff members of various grades and from all parts of the service.

During our inspection we observed the support provided by staff in communal areas of the service which included meeting rooms, the farm and social lounge. We looked at the care records of ten people and medicines administration records for five people who used the service. We also looked at the recruitment, training and supervision records for seven members of staff, minutes of meetings and a variety of other records related to the management of the service.

Updated 11 December 2018

The service consists of an Outreach Team, Shared Lives Scheme and a Supported Living Scheme. The Outreach Team provide care and support to adults with learning disabilities in their own homes or with their families and enables them to maintain their own independence and lifestyle. The Shared Lives Scheme offers people with a learning disability the opportunity to live in a family home either on a long term or short-term basis. They also offer respite care for people with a learning disability or people living with a dementia.

The Supported Living Scheme provides 24 hour personal and domestic support to people who live in their own home and who have a learning disability. Support is provided on a long-term basis in tenanted housing. A total of 150 people were being supported throughout the service during our inspection.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service was rated as outstanding at the last inspection of October 2015. The service had been developed and designed in line with the principles that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance; these values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. This policy asserts that people with learning disabilities and autism using a service should live as ordinary a life as any citizen. This policy can be found on the Care Quality Commission website.

Safeguarding policies, procedures and staff training helped protect people from abuse. People who used the service were given information and training to help protect themselves from harm. Safeguarding policies and procedures were developed in formats people could understand. The service liaised with other organisations to develop better practices to keep people safe.

The administration of medicines was safe. The service worked with other professionals to ensure people's medicines were administered in line with current guidance and took part in research to help improve the health and welfare of people who used the service.

People who used the service helped choose the staff who worked at the service and management conducted robust checks to ensure they were safe to work with vulnerable people. People told us they were looked after by a reliable staff team.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Where possible people had the same staff team to care for them which ensured the continuity of care.

There were systems and checks to ensure the Cherwell Centre was a safe place for staff to work in and people who used the service to enjoy. We saw these checks covered all aspects of the service and were conducted in a researched way using up to date guidelines. People who used the service were trained and supported to help with health and safety assessments.

People had a health action plan which showed that their health care needs were met. There were risk assessments for the environment, health and social care needs to help keep them safe. The service liaised with other organisations and professionals to help promote good care for people who used the service.

The principles of the mental capacity act were followed to protect people’s rights. We saw that where required best interest meetings were held with associated professionals to ensure any decisions were made on a persons behalf and were the least restrictive.

People were supported to take a nutritious diet to help maintain their well-being. The service encouraged people to plan and prepare their own meals to follow a healthy lifestyle. We saw that the service took part in research to improve people's health.

Staff received an induction. Training and supervision was ongoing and staff received competency checks to provide quality care. Staff were encouraged to participate in further training and support to gain promotion. Training was developed to be person centred because staff were encouraged to appreciate what people who used the service had to face in daily life.

People we spoke with thought staff were kind, caring and supportive. Staff encouraged people to be independent and to exercise their rights by lobbying MP's or joining known support groups.

The service was aware of equality and diversity and ensured any support people needed with their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion and culture was provided with empathy. We saw many examples of how the service supported people to meet their diverse needs.

People’s communication needs were tailored to each person to ensure their wishes were known. The service embraced technology to aid communication to assist people who communicated in a non verbal way.

People who used the service and family members could have their say in how the service was run. People and their families attended forums and we saw that action was taken from the meetings to improve people's lives.

There were meaningful activities and events to help people lead a fulfilling life. The service initiated and led events that involved the local community. People were supported in employment to help them feel valued.

People were assessed prior to joining the service. Plans of care were developed from the assessment and gaining information from relevant others. People were able to help develop and encouraged to maintain their involvement in the plans of care. The new electronic system gave people who used the service a chance to add their comments and we saw staff responded to their needs.

People’s end of life plans showed us their known choices were recorded and staff told us they had followed the plans in the past. There was support for any person who wanted to plan their end of life care and for any person or staff member who needed help during the grieving process.

The management system was structured so that staff and people who used the service knew who to go to if they wished to raise a concern. There were easy read procedures for people to follow and meetings where people could talk through any concerns they may have.

Audits and quality assurance surveys helped the service maintain and improve standards. We saw the audits were comprehensive and how the service responded in a positive manner for any areas that highlighted where improvements could be made.

Staff were given incentives to help improve their performance and encouraged to put forward their ideas to help improve the quality of service provision. Staff were valued and we saw that many ideas staff had discussed at meetings were implemented. This included activities and improvements to people's support.

The service liaised with many organisations, professionals and the community to help promote the care of people with a learning disability and autism. This included being involved in ways to improve people's health and well-being.