Hubbard Close

Updated 17 December 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the provider’s regional manager, registered manager and two care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and two medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and audits were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two relatives to gain feedback of their experience of the service.

Updated 17 December 2019

About the service

Hubbard Close is a residential care home providing personal care to people with learning disabilities, and autism. During the inspection five people were living at the service. The service can support up to five people. People had their own bedrooms and shared facilities such as the kitchen, the bathrooms and the garden.

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 were positive about their care. One person told us, ''I love it here. The staff are all great.''

People were supported with kindness, respect and compassion by a staff team who had gotten to know people as individuals. There was a focus on people making choices about their support and the staff team promoted people to be as independent as possible. People received personalised care and were communicated to in their preferred communication methods.

People were protected from harm and abuse by systems put in place at the service. People had assessments in place which enabled them to take positive risks. There were enough trained and knowledgeable staff to support people safely and to allow people to do what they wanted throughout the day.

However, people did not always have as required medicine guidelines in their medicine files as they were accessed online. The provider reassured us these would be put into place following the inspection so that staff could easily follow them.

People were supported to take part in a wide array of community-based activities and to take part in daily living skills in the home. Staff members encouraged people to try new things and to be involved in choosing how they spent their time. The manager and staff team had a passion for promoting people's involvement in the local community.

People were positive about the way they were supported with food and drink, people were involved in cooking and preparing meals. People were supported to see health care professionals where this support was needed. People had access to a detailed complaints procedure which was available in accessible formats if people needed to make a complaint.

The manager completed audits to monitor the quality of the service. These included medication audits, health and safety and care delivery.

People and their relatives were encouraged to feed back about their care and support and were involved in service delivery at all levels. The manager and the staff team worked with other organisations to ensure good outcomes for people using the service. People were positive about the management of the service. The manager was passionate about putting plans in place to continue to improve the way people were supported.

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. However, capacity assessments did not always clearly document how people were involved in the assessment process. We discussed this with the provider who assured us they would review these assessments to ensure consultation with people was clearly documented.

The service applied the 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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 20 November 2018) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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.