About the service Hillside House provides accommodation for people living with a learning disability or mental health condition. The home has a mix of small flats and ensuite bedrooms with communal kitchen/diner and lounge areas. The service is registered to support up to eight people. At the time of the inspection six people were living at the home.
The service had been developed with regard to 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. At the time of the inspection people using the service did not always receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that met all the Registering the Right Support principles, although staff worked hard to achieve as much of the guidance as possible.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Relatives and professionals felt people living at the home were kept safe, although risk assessments had not been thoroughly undertaken and medicines were not always managed effectively.
There was some evidence to show people’s needs had been assessed but it was not always robust. Professionals and relatives felt staff were caring but needed improved knowledge to support people. Staff had access to a range of formal training. People were supported to attend health appointments, although relatives felt staff could take a more encouraging approach to supporting wellbeing.
Relatives felt staff were caring in their approach but said they could sometimes be more proactive in supporting people. This view was also shared by professionals. They told us staff supported people in a way that maintained their dignity.
Care plans contained a range of detail, although professionals felt they could better reflect advice given to the service. Reviews of care were often limited and there was little evidence to suggest people had been actively involved in these reviews. Easy read information was available, although this did not extend to care plans and review documents.
The service did not have a registered manager in place. The service was not robustly overseen or managed consistently. Quality reviews and audits were not followed up or improvements did not take place in a timely manner.
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.
The service didn’t always consistently apply the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people did not fully reflect the principles and values of Registering the Right Support for the following reasons limited inclusion and participation in decision making e.g. Care records were not presented in a format that made information accessible and there was limited evidence to suggest people were actively involved in reviews.
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 3 December 2016).
At this inspection improvement had not been sustained and the provider is in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe. effective, caring, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
The provider has taken some action to mitigate the immediate risk to people who used the service.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hillside House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
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.