Archived: Riverside Close

Updated 25 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was conducted by an adult social care inspector.

Service and service type:

Riverside Close is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (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:

The inspection took place on 30 and 31 May 2019 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held in relation to Riverside Close. This included any statutory notifications sent to us by the registered provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law.

Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is information providers must send us to give us key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account in making our judgements in this report.

We also considered any information received from the public and professionals. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, a support worker and the area manager. We looked at the person's care files, medicine administration processes, and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service.

We undertook general observations of the home over the course of the inspection, including the general environment and bedroom of the person who lived at Riverside Close.

After the inspection we spoke with two relatives and a social care professional.

Updated 25 June 2019

About the service:

Riverside Close is a is a residential care home. This service supports people with autism; The service is registered to care for three people; there was one person living at the service at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service applied the principles 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 this service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the promotion of 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.

We saw many examples where staff had supported people to become more independent, make choices and increase their physical and emotional wellbeing. With staff support and by increasing their understanding, personalised daily routines were established, reflecting people's preferences and healthy eating was promoted.

Riverside Close is located in an area that enabled people using the service to participate in their own local community. Good local transport links enabled people to travel independently to many community facilities and places of interest.

The service was highly effective at promoting people's independence. People had made significant achievements, made possible by the dedication and persistence of staff. This included personal care and daily activities such as laundry, cleaning their home, shopping, preparing snacks and drinks.

Staff demonstrated great skill and tireless patience when working with a person to increase their skills and knowledge in daily activities. People were encouraged and supported to follow a healthy lifestyle; they chose and planned their meals and prepared their own drinks and snack. People were offered choice and control and consented to their care and support.

Staff had worked exceptionally hard in relation to developing effective communication with a person. This meant that they were able to make their own decisions about their support; staff ensured they were supported to make choices on a day to day basis. Pictures depicting activities, places, people and meals were used, together with picture boards to demonstrate the day of the activity.

Risks that people faced had been assessed and those identified were safely managed. Staff showed an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities of keeping people safe from avoidable harm. Medicines were managed safely by appropriately trained staff. The person who used the service self-medicated. The person had a locked facility in their room to store the medicines. The environment was safe and in a good state of repair and decoration.

The leadership of the service promoted a positive culture that was person-centred and inclusive. We received positive feedback about the quality of care and support people received and the overall management of the service from people's relatives. The registered manager and the staff team showed a desire to improve on the service provided and in turn the quality of life experiences for the people at Riverside Close.

Effective systems were in place to check the quality and safety of the service.

The service met the characteristics of Good in most areas, rated Outstanding in Caring; more information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated Good (Report published 3 November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to confirm that this service remained Good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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