Background to this inspection
Updated
31 May 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 carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type:
Whitstable Road 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:
The inspection was unannounced.
What we did:
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or when a person dies. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also received feedback from a local authority commissioner. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
We introduced ourselves to five people and joined two people for lunch. We spoke with the registered manager and one support staff. We looked at a range of records including one person’s care record; medicines records; two staff recruitment files; staff training records; fire reports; accidents and incidents; audits; and quality assurance reports. After the inspection we telephoned two relatives.
Updated
31 May 2019
About the service:
Whitstable Road is a residential care home that accommodates up to six people with a learning disability. At the time of the inspection there were six people living at the service.
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.
People’s experience of using this service:
People's outcomes were consistently good and feedback about the service confirmed this.
People were supported by a core team of consistent staff, who knew people well and trusting relationships had been developed. Staff were available to support people when they needed it. Staff understood the importance of being on hand to assist people to promote people’s independence. 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 supported this practice.
Staff treated people with dignity and kindness. They understood changes in people’s body language and how to communicate with people who had limited verbal communication. Staff received effective support from the management team and were motivated to provide personalised care.
People could be assured that staff understood their health, social and personal care needs. People continued to receive their medicines when they were needed. Advice from health care professionals was sought when it was needed. Risks to people’s well-being and in the environment continued to be effectively managed.
People were given informed choices about how to spend their time. They joined in local events and activities and kept in contact with family members and people who were important to them. People’s relatives were kept up to date with their well-being.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good (last report published 27 October 2016)
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Good.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good.