19 April 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
About the service
1 Charmandean Road is a residential care home for people living with a learning disability and autistic people. It is registered to provide personal care for up to eight people. People live in one large house. There were eight people living in the care home at the time of inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support
People and relatives told us staff supported people to pursue their interests. Staffing levels had improved and this had increased opportunities for people. People told us they were going out more frequently and there were more staff that could drive which had meant people were supported to consider a wider range of activities. One person told us, “I had been swimming which I hadn’t done in ages”. Staff had adopted new approaches; We observed people smiling and happy, engaged in various activities with staff. People were being supported when they experienced emotional distress. Staff had continued to develop their knowledge and used agreed approaches to support people. People received care and support in a safe, clean environment and some areas of the service had been redecorated with plans for more to follow. It was evident that improvements had been made since the last inspection and people were seeing the changes as positive. Managers and staff acknowledged more improvements were needed. This included ensuring incidents involving people were analysed to ensure staff continued to consider techniques and strategies to reduce the frequency and impact of incidents. This would also ensure staff were consistent with each person’s support.
Right Care
We observed people receiving kind and compassionate care. Relatives spoke positively about improvements in the service. One told us their loved one, “Is happy and settled ... I want the best for [person] “and commented on how things had improved, they told us “I have seen the difference”. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. Managers and staff had a better understanding how to support people who may lack capacity to understand the consequences of choices they made. Staff required more learning about communication and the approaches and tools to use with people in order to create and implement effective communication plans. Senior managers had scheduled additional training for staff to further develop their skills and knowledge. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People and relatives told us they felt safe.
Right culture
People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Following the last inspection, the provider had recognised the substantial need to improve the quality of the service people received. They had ensured senior managers with the appropriate expertise were focused on improving the service with clear actions planned. We observed people being supported by staff in a respectful and caring way, staff told us they were valued by senior managers and spoke positively about the interim manager who was leading by example. Staff had a better understanding of people’s sensory needs and ongoing work with Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) assessments had provided staff with techniques and tools which supported people when they experienced episodes of distress. People, relatives’ staff and visiting professionals have all commented on the openness of managers and the drive to improve the culture within the service. Managers and staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was inadequate (Published 25 March 2022). At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. This service has been in Special Measures since 25 March 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support, right care, right culture. This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 17, 18 and 20 January 2022 breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve person-centred care, dignity and respect, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing and governance.
The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well led sections of this full report.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the 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.