We carried out a review of the data available to us about Lowry House on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Lowry House, you can give feedback on this service.
Lowry House is a residential care home providing personal care to 12 people living with a learning disability. The service can support up to 12 people. There were six units and people lived either in small groups or independently depending upon their needs. All shared units had communal areas which included a kitchen and dining area.
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.
The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 12 people. This is larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design to provide separate flats where people lived independently or in small groups. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received exceptional person-centred care which was specifically designed to be reflective of their choices and preferences. People were at the heart of all decisions about their care and support. People, family and staff were fully involved in developing care plans and there were regular reviews. Staff had a clear understanding of the importance of providing people with opportunities to develop and maintain friendships and relationships and be part of the wider community. People were actively supported to maintain family relationships including visits to the family home, and attend a range of activities that were fun and enjoyable to the individual.
The service applied 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 using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent. Staff showed a passion and commitment to helping people achieve their goals and realise their aspirations. Staff had a ‘can do’ positive approach to risk taking. They meticulously planned and liaised with families and health professionals to overcome barriers. We saw numerous examples of how people had been supported to identify lifelong aspirations. The service had taken a structure step by step approach to enable people to move at their own pace to achieve these. Families and staff told us about how significantly positive an impact this had to people’s lives and given them meaningful, fulfilling and rewarding opportunities in their life that they never thought would be possible. This included people working towards independence and employment.
People felt safe and were supported to take part in a range of positive activities in the community. Systems were in place to ensure that the environment, equipment and utilities were maintained and safe for use. Medicines were safely stored and managed. People were supported to self-medicate when possible and guidance was provided for people who had medicines they only needed occasionally, such as medicine to manage pain. The service followed systems to ensure staff were safely recruited and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. If things went wrong, such as incidents, these were investigated, and action taken to learn lessons and prevent future risks.
People were supported to access healthcare services as needed and staff were able to recognise when people had additional support needs. There were adaptations in place throughout the service to meet people’s needs and promote independence. People’s rooms were decorated to reflect their interests and preferences. Staff received a full induction when they began working at the service and told us they had all the training and support they needed to do their job.
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. Assessments of people’s capacity was in place and the right people were involved in best interest decision making which included independent advocates.
Staff were kind and caring and people were supported to express their preferences and identity. Choice was promoted, and people were involved in decision making. Staff respected people’s privacy and were committed to providing good quality compassionate care.
People, relatives and staff were positive about the registered manager and the management team. The service worked closely with others to achieve positive outcomes and people and families were encouraged to provide feedback through meetings and surveys to improve service delivery. Staff were clear on their roles and duties, and committed to reflective learning and contributed to the improvement of care in the service.
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 15 June 2017).
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.
Cambian Lowry House is a purpose built facility and consisted of self-contained apartments providing accommodation for 12 people. The apartments provided single occupancy, or two or three bed facilities. The home had spacious communal areas, activity rooms, a physical fitness suite and an enclosed garden. The home is registered to provide residential care and accommodation and at the time of this inspection there were a total of nine people using the service.
At the time of our inspection a registered manager was in post. 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People living in the home told us they were happy with their care and liked the staff that supported them and felt safe when care and support was being delivered.
Staff knew how to act to keep people safe and free from harm. The registered manager and senior staff ensured that the building and equipment were well maintained and that the environment had been designed to keep people as safe as possible.
There were enough staff to meet the needs of people using the service. Some of those needs were complex and staff told us they were trained and received appropriate support and supervision to effectively meet people’s complex needs. Staff received a full and detailed induction before they started working with people. Induction training was taking place with seven newly employed staff at the time of our inspection.
The arrangements for managing medication were well managed by staff that supported those people who needed help to take their medicines safely.
Our observation of staff interacting with people gave a clear indication that they knew the most appropriate and best ways of communicating with people effectively and knew how best to support them. Staff were aware of people’s individual choices and how to support those people who lacked capacity to make decisions for themselves.
Care plans were detailed and provided staff with clear advice on how best to support people to maintain their daily and night time routines, including how staff should respond to people’s changing behaviours.
People were supported to maintain a suitable food and fluid intake. Staff supported people with their individual shopping requirements and helped them to maintain an appropriate healthy diet that was flexible according to people’s preferences and choices on a day-to-day basis.
People were supported to raise any concerns and complaints and we saw evidence of this. One complaint raised by a person had been supported to do so by the member of staff designated as their support worker. We saw full written details of the complaint made, the registered managers’ timely initial response, and a timely response to the findings and outcome, all to the satisfaction of the complainant.
We found that the registered manager led by example, supporting staff when dealing with new, complex needs of people and providing opportunities for staff, people using the service and their families to participate in meetings to look for ways of further improving the service.
The management team carried out monthly checks and audits on how the service was being provided and if any areas of service provision could be further improved. The audit processes included, care delivery and support, maintenance of the environment and medicines management. Where any shortfalls had been identified, these had been quickly addressed with information included to detail any lessons learned. We saw evidence of the audits completed by the management team.