Beulah Road

About the service

Beulah Road is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to seven people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people. There were six people living there at the time of the inspection.

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

Right Support

The service did not always monitor, manage and mitigate all risks to people. Not all risks to people had appropriate support plans. This put some people at risk of potential harm.

The service supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence. Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Staff supported people to pursue their interests and achieve their aspirations and goals.

The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative. Staff did everything they could to avoid restraining people. The service recorded when staff restrained people, and staff learned from those incidents and how they might be avoided or reduced.

Staff provided people with care and support in a clean environment. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. People benefitted from an interactive and stimulating environment.

The service made reasonable adjustments for people so they could be fully involved in discussions about how they received support, including support to travel wherever they needed to go. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests and to stay in touch with people important to them.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that achieved the best possible health outcome. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care

People were not always supported by suitably trained, skilled and competent staff. Staff training in many areas of care was not up to date. Not all staff could sufficiently demonstrate they understood how to recognise and report abuse. This meant the provider had not ensured people were sufficiently protected from the risk of abuse.

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people's cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. The service worked well with other agencies to do so.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because the permanent staff understood their individual communication needs. People who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds, Makaton (a form of sign language), pictures and symbols could interact comfortably with staff and others involved in their care and support because the permanent staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

People's care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People received care that supported their needs and aspirations and was focused on their quality of life.

People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture

Staff turnover had been high and the provider used agency staff to ensure there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Not all agency staff knew people well and this meant sometimes there was a lack of consistent care.

The provider had not engaged sufficiently with people’s families. This meant people’s families were not sufficiently involved in developing the service.

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff.

People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. The permanent staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing.

Staff placed people's wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. Staff valued and acted upon people's views.

People's quality of life was enhanced by the service's culture of improvement and inclusivity. 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

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.