Swiss House

Updated 4 December 2020

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 19 November 2020 and was announced.

Updated 4 December 2020

About the service:

Swiss House is a residential care home that accommodates up to ten people living with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were nine people living at the home.

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. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. 'Registering the Right Support' CQC policy'.

What life is like for people using this service:

• People received safe support with their medicines by competent staff members. The provider had systems in place to respond to any medicine errors. The provider completed regular checks to ensure that people were receiving the right medicine at the right time and people’s medicines were stored correctly.

• The provider had systems in place to ensure the Care Quality Commission was notified of significant events in a timely manner and in accordance with their registration. The provider had effective systems to monitor the quality of the service they provided and to drive improvements where needed.

• The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any complaints or compliments from people or visitors. The provider, and management team, had good links with the local community which people benefited from.

• People received safe care and support as the staff team had been trained to recognise signs of abuse, or risk, and understood what to do to safely support people. Staff members followed effective infection prevention and control procedures. When risks to people’s health and welfare were identified, the provider acted to minimise the likelihood of occurrence.

• The provider supported staff in providing effective care for people through person-centred care planning, training and supervision. People were promptly referred to additional healthcare services when required. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and had choice regarding food and drink. The environment where people lived was well maintained and suited their individual needs and preferences.

• People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had positive relationships. People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age and gender. People were supported to develop their independence.

• People participated in a range of activities that met their individual choices and preferences and that they found interesting and stimulating. People were provided with information in a way that they could understand. Policies and guidelines important to people were provided in an easy to read format with pictures to aid their understanding.

More information in Detailed Findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good overall with requires improvement for well-led (date last report published 08 January 2016). At that inspection we found the provider needed to improve their systems for monitoring the provision of people’s medicines and they needed to improve how they notified us of significant events. At this inspection we found they had made these improvements and therefore rated the key question well-led ‘Good’.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection, ‘Good.’ At this inspection we found the service was good in all key questions with an overall rating of ‘Good.’

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about the service to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.