Blackwell Road

Blackwell Road is a residential care home providing personal care to up to a maximum of 1 person. The service provides support to a person who has a learning disability with associated conditions. At the time of our inspection 1 person was using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

The person received the support they needed to lead a fulfilling and meaningful life. They were provided with support that kept them safe from harm, abuse and neglect, but encouraged independence. They received support with their medicines and staff knew how to identify and act when the person showed signs of anxiety. Staff knew how to support the person.

Right Care

The person received care that was appropriate to their needs and helped them to maintain good health. Their health was monitored, and they had access to health and social care services when needed. Staff had a thorough understanding of the person’s care needs. Other health and social care professionals, relatives and the person themselves were consulted about decisions affecting the care provided.

Right Culture

There was a positive culture at this home. Staff were committed to providing the person with the opportunities to feel part of the community and to lead their life in their chosen way. The person was able to choose what staff they wanted to take them on activities and the provider’s flexible approach to staff enabled this to happen. The person had a consistent team of staff, providing consistency and stability for the person. This has led to them achieving many positive outcomes in their life.

The person was 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.

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 (14 November 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-Led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Blackwell Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The accommodation consisted of a lounge, a kitchen and one bedroom. There was a bedroom for staff to use to sleep in at the service. The bungalow had a private entry and garden for the person to use.

At our last inspection in January 2016 we rated the service, good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Blackwell Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. 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.

The service remained safe. People’s needs were assessed and their care plans provided staff with clear guidance about how they wanted their individual needs met. Care plans were person centred and contained risk assessments to show how to reduce harm. Staff understood their responsibilities should they suspect abuse was taking place and knew how to report any concerns they had. There were enough staff on duty to keep people safe and meet their needs. People’s medicines were managed safely and staff had received training to help ensure people had their medicines when these were needed. The provider reviewed how the service was managed to ensure any lessons were learnt and improvements were made.

The care people received remained effective. People received consistent care from a small team of staff who knew and understood their needs. They received care and support from staff who were trained and confident to meet their individual needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice. People made decisions about their care and staff helped them to understand the information they needed to make informed decisions. Staff sought people’s consent before they provided care and they were helped to make decisions which were in their best interests. Where people’s liberty was restricted, this had been done lawfully to safeguard them.

People chose what they wanted to eat and drink and were helped to prepare meals and supported to maintain a balanced diet. People were assisted to maintain good health and to obtain treatment when they needed it. The service had effective relationships with healthcare professionals, which ensured people received the care and treatment they needed in a timely manner.

The service remained caring. People were supported with patience, consideration and kindness and staff respected them and the decisions they made. Information was available to ensure people could make informed choices and understood information what was important to them. People were supported to maintain relationships with their friends and families.

The service remained responsive. People’s care was regularly reviewed and amended as necessary to ensure it reflected their changing support needs. People could choose how to spend their time and get involved with activities that interested them. People and their relatives were encouraged and supported to express their views about the care and support provided and staff were responsive to their comments and any concerns.

The service remained well led. The provider and registered manager assessed and monitored the quality of care to ensure standards were met and maintained. The provider had an ongoing action plan that showed how the service was continually improving. They understood the requirements of their registration with us and informed us of information that we needed to know.

On the day of our inspection there was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 risk to people’s safety was reduced because staff had attended safeguarding adults training, they could identify the different types of abuse, and knew the procedure for reporting concerns. Risk assessments had been completed in areas where people’s safety could be at risk. People had the freedom to live their lives as they wanted to. Staff were recruited in a safe way and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and to keep them safe.

Accidents and incidents were investigated. Assessments of the risks associated within the environment which people lived were carried out and people had personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) in place. People’s medicines were stored, handled and administered safely.

People were supported by staff who received an induction, were well trained and received regular assessments of their work.

The registered manager ensured the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)(2005) had been applied when decisions had been made for people. Staff ensured people were given choices about their support needs and day to day life. The registered manager was aware of the requirements to apply for and implement Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

People were encouraged to plan, buy and cook their own food and were supported to follow a healthy and balanced diet. People were supported to maintain good health as they had access to a GP and other healthcare professionals. Referrals to relevant health services were made where needed.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring and treated them with respect and dignity. Staff communicated well with people to make them feel their views mattered and they would be acted on. Staff responded quickly to people who had become distressed. Priority was focused on person centred care and staff were aware of the importance of encouraging people to live their lives as independently as possible.

People were able to contribute to decisions about their care and support needs. People were provided with an independent advocate, if appropriate, to support them with decisions about their care. People, friends and relatives were able to visit whenever the person wanted them to.

Support records were person centred and focused on what was important to the person. The records were regularly reviewed and people and their relatives were involved. People were encouraged to take part in activities that were important to them and were provided with the information they needed, in a format they could understand, if they wished to make a complaint.

People, relatives and staff spoke highly of the registered manager; they found her approachable and supportive. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and ensured staff felt able to contribute to the development of the service. Staff felt valued and supported to develop their role. People who used the service were encouraged to provide their feedback on how the service could be improved. There were a number of quality assurance processes in place that regularly assessed the quality and effectiveness of the support provided.

The person we spoke with was involved in their care and treatment options and happy with the care provided.

We observed members of staff interacting with the person who used the service in a courteous and polite way. They were guided by them as to the activities they wished to do, when to eat and when to go out.

We looked at how medicines were managed and saw regular audits were carried out to ensure safe handling and use of medicines. We discussed the storage of medicines with the manager who said they would seek advice and ensure they were meeting the required standards.

We saw there were enough staff to offer safe and effective support to the person using the service and that changes to the number of staff were made when necessary.

We looked at complaints policy and procedure and saw that safeguards were in place to ensure people’s concerns were taken seriously.