Archived: Hersham Gardens

Hersham Gardens is a supported living setting which provides support and personal care to up to seven people some of who have a learning disability or mental health support needs. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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. At the time of our inspection one person was receiving a regulated activity.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support: The model of care and setting maximised people’s choice, control and independence. Accommodation was in an ordinary house which was central to local amenities. There were good transport links to trains and buses were a short distance. People had a real choice regarding who they lived with and who supported them. Through positive communication people were supported to take control over all aspects of their lives including moving towards independence, employment opportunities, how they spent their time and their relationships.

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. People’s communication styles were understood by staff and it was clear people felt listened to. This supported people in making decisions, taking positive risks and striving to develop independence.

People were supported to access healthcare services when required and staff advocated for people to ensure they received the care and treatment they needed. People had a choice of food and received support to gain independence with cooking and other household chores.

Right Care: People’s care was personalised and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. There was a strong emphasis on supporting people to set goals and all achievements were celebrated. People’s individuality was respected and support was planned flexibly in order to ensure people could take the lead in making choices. Staff supported people in ensuring their voices were listened to and advocated on their behalf where required. There was a positive and vibrant atmosphere within Hersham Gardens and people and staff worked together to support each other.

People were fully in control of decisions about their support and plans for the future. People and staff had developed positive relationships and it was clear people felt listened to and respected. People were supported to plan how they wished to spend their time and to continue to try new things including voluntary work and working within their local neighbourhood.

Right culture: People were supported to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Staff had a clear understanding they were invited into people’s home to support them and respected the way they wished to do things and their privacy. The values of Hersham Gardens were fully embedded and concentrated around supporting people to both create and make the most of opportunities. Staff demonstrated a real pride in the roles and a drive to see people flourish and gain confidence.

The leadership put people at the centre of how the service developed. People were involved in the monitoring and reviewing of the service to ensure this met their needs and their rights were being upheld. People and staff worked proactively with other organisations to raise awareness of the rights of people with a learning disability.

People felt safe with the staff supporting them and knew how to raise a concern should they feel unsafe or be unhappy with their support. There were sufficient staff to support people’s needs and people were involved in the recruitment, induction and supervision of staff. People were supported with their medicines safely by competent staff.

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 the service under the previous provider was Outstanding (published 10 December 2018).

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 re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.