About the service Aston House is a small residential care home providing support for people with mental health care needs, some of whom also have other health conditions. People living at Aston House were younger than in most care homes. People were independently mobile, with some using walking aids. Aston House supports up to 15 people in one converted building with a lift. At the time of the inspection there were 14 people living at Aston House.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Care and support was tailored to meet people’s individual needs. Peoples care was assessed and reviewed to ensure care was person centred taking into consideration people’s views and wishes.
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 told us they were able to spend their time doing the things they enjoyed. Some people spent time in the lounge together and enjoyed the social interaction. Others chose to spend time in their rooms. Each person was seen as an individual and staff knew people’s needs and preferences well. People and their relatives if appropriate, were given the opportunity to be involved in any reviews and changes.
Staff were safely recruited. New staff received an induction and all staff received mandatory training to support them to safely meet people’s needs. Staff received support and supervision and felt involved in the way the service developed.
People received their medication in a safe way. Staff and management worked closely with other health care professionals to ensure medication was given consistently. Medication reviews also took place and all aspects of medication administration was reviewed and audited regularly.
Everyone we spoke with told us they enjoyed the meals provided and staff were aware of people’s nutritional needs.
People were supported and encouraged to continue doing the things they enjoyed. Some people liked to watch the television in the lounge or go out to the shops. One told us they liked football and another said they enjoyed getting take aways some weekends.
Care plans and associated risk assessments were detailed and person centred. These provided staff with clear information to enable them to provide consistent care to people. Detailed life histories and previous health issues information meant that staff had background information about people and understood their needs. In particular, events in peoples past that may have impacted on their mental and physical health.
The registered manager and staff worked closely with people to support improvements in their overall health and to reduce levels of anxiety. People were supported to be as independent as possible.
Robust quality assurance systems were in place to measure and monitor the standard of the service. The registered manager and staff completed a number of reviews and audits. Any actions identified were taken forward to ensure continued learning and improvement.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was rated Good at the last inspection (published 9 October 2018)
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.
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.