Creative Support - High Street

Creative Support High Street is a residential care home providing personal care for up to six people. It is registered to support people, with a learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, living with dementia, a physical disability, a sensory impairment, younger and older people. At the time of inspection there were six people using this service. Six people were living at the service at the time of the inspection.

The service is a single storey bungalow. There are six individual bedrooms, shared bathroom facilities, a shared kitchen, lounge and garden area. The office is located within the service.

The service has not been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These are principles that ensure people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best 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 did not receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them.

The service was no bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to six people. The service was designed prior to building the right support guidance and the provider only took over the service in 2019. However, signs that deliberately identify the service as a care home had not been considered. These included things such as signs at the entrance gate asking for visitors to ring the bell and wait for staff. Industrial bins for various types of hazardous and non-hazardous waste were located at the front of the house and visible from the street. This did not promote people's dignity and respect of their environment.

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

People were supported with basic care needs and remained safe from physical harm. However, the service did not ensure sufficient staffing levels to promote interaction and to avoid social isolation. There was limited evidence that people were involved in the planning of their care or encouraged to voice their opinion about the service.

The ability for people to participate in activities of their choice and a time of their choosing was severely limited by the poor staffing levels. People were only able to go out for around four hours once a week when supported by an external company provided by the council.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. People’s rights were not consistently considered and consent for some areas of their life not always sought.

The service didn’t always (consistently) apply the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. The outcomes for people did not fully reflect the principles and values of Registering the Right Support for the following reasons, there was inconsistent evidence that people had choice and control. People were not supported to live as independently as possible and there was a lack of social inclusion.

People told us they felt safe and were happy living at the service. People were able to access all areas of the service freely. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe.

People were able to access various health and social care professionals as required. People were supported safely with their medicines.

Staff supported and treated people well and with kindness. Staff had a good knowledge of people’s needs, likes and dislikes and knew people well. People told us they would complain to the staff or the registered manager if they were upset or treated badly.

People had access to a variety of food and drink and told us they helped to prepare meals and clean up afterwards.

People who used different methods to communicate were supported to do so and staff all understood how to do this.

We have made a recommendation about ensuring people’s care records are current, correct and up to date. We have also made a recommendation about ensuring rubbish, furniture and other items are not stored in and around the service.

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 February 2018). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to sufficient staffing levels to enable people to make choices and participate in activities of their choosing. We also found breaches in relation to the need for consent. We found there was a breach in relation to ensuring effective systems and process to identify and promote required improvements and quality of care. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.