5 July 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
About the service
Ashking House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
Ashking House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 7 people in 1 2-storey building. At the time of our inspection there were 7 people living at the home, all of whom had a learning disabilities and autism.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support:
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 home supported this practice. The model of care at Ashking House maximised people's choice, control and independence. Staff were committed to supporting people in line with their preferences and supported people to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed.
People were supported to access healthcare services to promote their wellbeing and help them to live healthy lives. Staff managed risks to minimise restrictions, focusing on what people could do for themselves.
The home had effective infection, prevention and control measures to keep people safe, including good arrangements for keeping the premises clean and hygienic.
Right Care:
Staff delivered care in line with information in people's care plans and recognised models of care for people with a learning disability or autistic people. This ensured people were receiving care tailored to them which promoted a good quality of life.
Staff understood people's individual communication styles they had developed a good rapport with them. People were supported to develop and maintain relationships, follow interests and take part in activities that were socially and culturally relevant to them.
People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.
The registered manager worked well with other agencies to safeguard people. Investigations into incidents had been used as an opportunity to learn lessons, change practice, and drive improvement. Staff recruitment, induction and training processes promoted safety, including those for agency staff. People were supported by staff who had received a wide range of relevant and good quality training to meet their needs.
Right Culture:
There was a positive culture at the home and people benefited from being supported by happy staff and this was reflected in the atmosphere at the home. Staff turnover was very low. People received consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff told us they enjoyed their job and making a positive difference to someone's life.
The home had effective governance arrangements to assess the quality and safety of the service. These were used to identify and drive improvement. Systems were in place to apologise to people, and those important to them, when things went wrong.
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 Ashking House was good (published 02 July 2018).
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Ashking House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on when the home was previously inspected.
This was a focused inspection and the report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
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 Ashking House, which will help inform when we next inspect.