Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities is a residential care service providing short term respite stays for people with a learning disability and autistic people. It provides accommodation and personal care for up to 5 people. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance the Care Quality Commission (CQC) follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Based on our inspection of key areas safe and well-led, we found:

Right Support:

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. 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.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked with other agencies to ensure care met people’s needs. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care and support because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing during their respite stays. A person we spoke with at the service said it was “brilliant”.

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 this service was good (published 13 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We found the following examples of good practice.

People’s care plans detailed their usual body temperature range, as well as any triggers which might cause their temperature to increase, for example, a urinary tract infection. People’s temperature was taken twice a day.

People had detailed risk assessments regarding COVID-19.

Staff followed procedures for keeping the building clean, which included cleaning of surfaces, door handles and light switches. Staff were trained to use a ‘fogging’ machine to clean the bedroom when the person finished their short stay. A different bedroom was used for the next person if possible and there was a gap of several hours between one person leaving the service and the next person coming in.

Staff maintained social distancing. Where people using the service had previously liked a lot of physical reassurance, for example, by hugging staff, they had been taught techniques to ‘self hug’.

Respite Centre for People with Learning Disabilities is a residential unit which offers short breaks to people with learning disabilities.

A similar service was previously managed by the same provider at the same address. However, this is a new service and offers up to four respite places for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. The service is on the ground floor of the building in a residential area and is in keeping with other houses and flats on the estate.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

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.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways:

¿ People received a service that was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

¿ The service had the characteristics of a good service in all areas.

¿ People told us they felt safe when they stayed at the respite centre.

¿ People’s needs were met by suitable numbers of staff who knew them well.

¿ People brought their medicines in with them when they started their stay and staff supported them to take medicines safely.

¿ People were protected from the risk of infection.

¿ People received the necessary support to eat and drink and meals were tailored to individual preferences.

¿ People were treated with kindness, respect and compassion.

¿ People’s privacy and dignity was respected.

¿ People received personalised care which was responsive to their individual needs.

¿ Everyone we spoke with told us the activities were good.

¿ People had support plans in place which covered a range of information about people’s social histories, preferences and support needs.

¿ The provider had a complaints procedure in place.

¿ The registered manager and deputy manager sought and listened to people’s views and action was taken to incorporate their ideas

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first inspection of this service.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up:

We did not identify any concerns at this inspection. We will therefore re-inspect this service within the published timeframe for services rated good. We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.