Archived: Roydon Road

Roydon Road is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to three people and there were three people using the service at the time of inspection. People lived in a shared dwelling in an older style property and had single bedrooms and shared communal space.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People had lived at the service for many years and it remained appropriate to their needs. Although care plans were well written they did not clearly consider people’s needs as they were getting older or consider how the environment could be adapted to better support people. We have made recommendations about this.

Risk assessments were in place and where possible equipment had been purchased to help facilitate people’s mobility and independence such as rails to hold on to when getting in and out of the bath. There were plans in place to update and refurbish parts of the home which were showing signs of age and wear and tear. Unfortunately, the accommodation was restricted in how much it could be adapted.

People clearly enjoyed their lives and were supported to undertake a range of activities in line with their individual needs. There was a core team of staff who knew people well and helped ensure people received continuity of care. Staff spoken with were sufficiently knowledgeable, felt well supported and enjoyed their job role.

There were systems in place to help ensure the service remained compliant with regulation and took into account feedback from people in terms of how the service was managed. The service had a registered manager who supported her staff and ensured their training was up to date and provided them with regular supervisions.

The registered manager was supported by other managers working for the same provider and supported by a regional and operational manager. A series of audits and health and safety checks were carried out to ensure equipment was safe to use and the environment fit for purpose. We have made a recommendation about the environment and some associated risks.

People were supported with their assessed needs and these were kept under review. Staff supported people to eat well and access health services they needed. People’s health care needs were clearly understood, and staff monitored these well.

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.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting 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.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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

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.

We inspected this service on 15 December 2016. The inspection was unannounced. Three people were living at the service on the day of our inspection.

The manager had applied to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were only employed after the provider had carried out comprehensive and satisfactory pre-employment checks. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and to keep them safe.

Systems were in place to ensure people’s safety was effectively managed. Staff were aware of the procedures for reporting concerns and of how to protect people from harm. People were supported to receive their prescribed medicines appropriately and medicines were stored safely.

People experienced a good quality of life because staff received training that gave them the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Staff were well supported by the manager and provider.

Staff understood the needs of the people they supported. People were involved in determining the level of support they needed and their independence was promoted. People were supported to maintain and improve their health. Staff supported and encouraged people to maintain a healthy diet. Staff respected people choices and staff were aware of the key legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and gained consent before providing support.

People received care and support from staff who were kind, caring and respectful to the people they were supporting. People and their relatives had opportunities to comment on the service provided and people were involved in every day decisions about their care.

Care records were detailed and provided staff with sufficient guidance to provide consistent and effective care to each person. Changes to people’s care was kept under review to ensure the change was effective. People were supported to develop and maintain hobbies and interests and were active members of the local community.

There was a strong emphasis on promoting good practice in the service. Staff were clear about the vision and values of the service in relation to valuing people, caring, working together and treating people with respect. We observed staff putting these values into practice during our inspection.

The provider had a range of systems in place to assess, monitor and further develop the quality of the service. This included quality monitoring visits of the service and monitoring of incidents, accidents, safeguarding concerns and complaints.

We looked at a range of records in the service which were all readily available, comprehensive and up to date. This showed that the service was well led.

People told us that they felt safe and procedures were in place to ensure that any potential abuse that was reported was immediately dealt with.

One of the people who used the service told us that they liked music and football. They told us that the staff team, "Are taking me to the X Factor tour after Christmas." Another person who used the service told us that they liked anything to do with aircraft. They had been to a local aircraft museum on the day of the inspection and were being helped make a model aeroplane that they had bought.

We looked at care records and found them to be comprehensive with a lot of detail about the individual. The care records also contained detailed risk assessments. One person we spoke with told us that staff went through their care plan with them.

We found that procedures were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse or to ensure that any allegations of abuse were properly investigated.