Churchill House

Updated 15 February 2020

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

This service provides care and support to people living in supported living settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The service had a manager who was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. The provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started and ended on 16 January 2020. We visited the office location on 16 January 2020.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections

During the inspection

During the inspection we met one person using the service and four staff members which included the manager. One person had provided written feedback to us about their experiences. Some people we met were not able to fully tell us about their experiences. We therefore used our observations of care and feedback gained to help form our judgements.

We reviewed two people’s care and support records and three staff files. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service such as incident and accident records, meeting minutes, training records, policies, audits and complaints.

After the inspection

We spoke with two health and social care professionals, two staff members and two relatives.

Updated 15 February 2020

About the service:

Churchill House provides personal care for people with learning disabilities and autism in their own homes and flats in Somerset. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting three people.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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:

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.

People were supported to engage in activities of their choice and try new opportunities. Care plans were person centred and gave clear and specific information of how people preferred their care and support to be delivered.

The organisation’s ethos promoted a positive staff culture and team work. Staff were caring and respectful. Induction, supervision and regular training ensured staff were skilled and competent.

Medicines were managed safely. Assessments identified and managed risks and supported positive risk taking. People’s nutritional and hydration needs were met and people were involved in choosing and preparing their food.

The service was well led and managed, with positive oversight by the provider. Systems were in place to monitor and review the quality of the service. There was an open and honest culture and reflective practice took place.

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

Rating at last inspection:

This service was registered with us on 11/01/2019 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for this service was Good (published 11 January 2017). 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 date of registration.

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.