Real Life Options - 96 Harrowdene Road

Updated 10 July 2021

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Real Life Options – 96 Harrowdene Road is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The 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 CQC. 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

Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service. This information included the last inspection report, feedback we had received about the service and any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the CQC. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. This information helps support our inspections.

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 used all this information to plan our inspection. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, team coordinator, four care staff and one healthcare professional. People using the service due to their communication needs were unable to tell us about their experience of living in the care home. People mostly communicated by sounds, behaviour/actions, gestures and by using pictures. To gain further understanding of people's experience of the service we spent time during the inspection observing how staff engaged with people and spoke with their relatives after the inspection visit.

We reviewed a range of records which related to people's individual care and the running of the service. These records included four people's care files, three staff records, policies, medicine administration records and a range of records relating to the management and quality monitoring of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. The registered manager was responsive in providing us with a range of documentation to do with the management and running of the care home.

We spoke with three people’s relatives and one care staff. We also received feedback about the care home from two healthcare and social care professionals.

Updated 10 July 2021

About the service

Real Life Options - 96 Harrowdene Road is a residential care home providing personal care to a maximum of six people with learning disabilities who may also have physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. At the time of the inspection there were four people living in the care home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We saw positive engagement between staff and people using the service. People were treated with respect and dignity.

People's care and support were personalised. Staff knew people well. They understood and supported people's individual needs, interests and preferences.

Systems were in place to protect people from abuse. People’s relatives were confident that allegations of abuse would be dealt with appropriately.

Appropriate staff recruitment systems helped to ensure only suitable staff were employed in the home.

Personalised risk assessments were in place. Staff received the training they needed to keep people safe and were committed to supporting people to be as independent as possible.

Staff and people using the service participated in the regular COVID-19 testing and vaccination programme.

People who used the service received their medicines safely.

There were quality assurance systems in place that monitored the service provided to people. Action had been taken make improvements when needed.

Staff worked with healthcare and social care professionals, to ensure that people received an effective and safe service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence. People received person-centred care and their dignity, privacy and human rights were promoted. Attitudes and behaviours of the registered manager and care staff enabled and supported people to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 28 August 2019)

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about an allegation of neglect, incidents, and earlier this year issues to do with COVID-19 testing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect these. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service remains good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report. The provider had taken effective action to mitigate risks to people.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home 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 until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.