28 August 2019
During a routine inspection
Derby House is a care home which provides personal and nursing care in one adapted building for up to eight people with a learning disability including autism. At the time of our inspection, there were five people living at Derby House.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People‘s care and support was planned proactively in partnership with them. Staff used individual ways of involving people and people took a key role in the local community and had opportunity to access education and work. People were supported in a way that gave them a fulfilling life and promoted an enhanced sense of well-being. Staff focused on providing person-centred care and relatives and professionals described people’s care in a positive way, telling us people experienced new skills and experiences through the support of staff.
Staff make huge efforts to ensure people had opportunities to take part in activities that reflected their interests and preferences. This included activities on site, such as baking and caring for the in-house pets, as well as off-site which included going abroad on holiday and participating in national projects to promote autism. People were encouraged to participate in local enterprise and where their needs changed staff upskilled themselves in order to help people remain in their home.
People were supported by sufficient numbers of appropriately skilled staff to meet their needs and keep them safe. Staff understood their responsibilities in safeguarding people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had.
Risks to people’s safety were identified and action taken to keep people as safe as possible. Accidents and incidents were reviewed and measures implemented to reduce the risk of them happening again.
People lived in a service which was clean and hygienic and staff supported people to access healthcare professionals when they required it as well as receive all the medicines prescribed for them.
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.
People were able to make choices about the food they ate. Each person had a health action plan which detailed their health needs and the support they needed. Staff worked with external organisations and professionals to help provide the most effective care to people. External agencies gave positive feedback about the care and support people received.
Staff were kind, caring and attentive. Staff treated people with respect and maintained their dignity. People were supported to make choices about their care and to maintain relationships with their friends and families.
People, relatives and staff benefited from good leadership provided by the registered manager. Staff said there was a strong team ethos and staff said they received good support from the registered manager and their colleagues.
People who lived at the service, their relatives and other stakeholders had opportunities to give their views. The provider’s quality monitoring systems were effective in ensuring people received good quality care and support.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
At the last inspection we gave the service a rating of Good (published
2 March 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.