Background to this inspection
Updated
25 October 2022
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 7 September 2022 and ended on 14 September 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we already held on the service. We contacted the commissioners for the service as well as relevant health and social care professionals to gather their views. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
During this inspection we spoke with three people who use the service and two relatives. We spoke with eight staff, including the registered manager, deputy manager and support workers. We also reviewed email feedback from three staff members and feedback from professionals which included community nurses, therapists and social workers. We reviewed the care plans for three people and looked at a variety of records used within the service including policies, training records and audits
Updated
25 October 2022
About the service
Oakwood House is a supported living service providing personal care to people with learning disabilities and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were five people using the service and one person visiting as part of a planned transition.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Right Support
People’s needs were assessed, and care plans were developed with the input of the individual and professionals. Risks to people’s safety were considered and clear guidance was put in place to support staff. People were supported by enough staff who had received training and were deemed competent to complete specific tasks. Staff supported people to maintain relationships that were important to them and engage in activities which were person centred.
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.
Right Care
People were treated with dignity and respect. People’s health needs were well supported, and people’s medicine was safely managed. People were protected from the risk of infection and staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff knew how to communicate with people appropriately and ensure they had access to a healthy diet. People were protected from the risk of harm.
Right culture
People, their relatives and staff were confident raising concerns. They were given the opportunity to comment on the organisation and told us they felt listen to. The provider could evidence that lessons were learnt when things went wrong. The provider also carried out regular audits and shared best practice amongst the staff team. Managers worked with outside agencies to support people to achieve their goals and maintained good oversight of the progress people made.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This service was registered with us on 18 May 2022 and this is its first inspection.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all supported living inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.