During an assessment under our new approach
About the service
The Broad Group - 85 Bath Road is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 5 people. At the time of our assessment 5 people were using the service.
Who the service is for
The Broad Group - 85 Bath Road provides support to people under the age of 65. The service specialises in providing support to Deaf adults with learning disabilities and autistic people. We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
Key findings
We carried out this assessment on 21 October 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.
People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions they had choice, control and freedom over their lives.
People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely and effectively. Staff had received relevant training in areas such as communication, learning disabilities and positive behaviour support training. All staff were required to complete British Sign Language (BSL) level 1. This enabled staff to communicate effectively with the people they supported, as well as with colleagues who were Deaf or had hearing impairments. A relative said, “The service has improved [person’s] quality of life by them being able to communicate with all the staff, as they have all been trained in BSL to a good standard. They understand [person’s] particular version of BSL and are helping them to improve their communication skills.”
Some people had lived at the home for many years. Their needs had been assessed before they moved into the service to ensure staff could provide safe and effective support. For people who had not lived at the home for as many years their needs had been assessed as and when appropriate and involving those important to them, before they moved in. This helped ensure their needs could be met, and consideration was given to their compatibility with other people living at the service.
Care plans contained detailed information about people’s health needs. Risk assessments reflected people’s individual risks and provided staff with guidance on how to manage these safely, including risks associated with eating and drinking, mobility and accessing the community.
People were supported to access health and social care services and had health action plans in place, which set out their individual health needs and the support required to maintain their health and wellbeing. A relative highlighted the importance of new staff knowing people well and being able to recognise changes in their health. They told us, “[Person’s] health will go down quickly if not picked up by staff.”
Although there had been no recent accidents or incidents, processes were in place to ensure any future occurrences would be recorded and reviewed monthly. The registered manager told us accidents and incidents would be analysed to identify any themes or trends, and any updates or changes would be shared with the staff team.
There were effective systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. Staff had received safeguarding training and demonstrated a good understanding of how to recognise potential signs of abuse. Staff told us they would not hesitate to raise concerns and were confident any concerns would be listened to and acted upon appropriately.
Staff were recruited safely. Recruitment records confirmed appropriate pre-employment checks had been completed, including full employment histories, explanations for any gaps, references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. DBS checks provide information about relevant convictions and cautions to support safer recruitment decisions. These checks helped ensure staff were suitable to work with people who may be vulnerable.
Medicines were administered safely by staff who had received appropriate training. Staff competency was regularly assessed to ensure they continued to administer medicines safely and as prescribed.
There were systems in place to ensure the environment was safe and well maintained. For example, the provider employed a maintenance person to ensure any requests were addressed in a timely manner.
The registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities and there were clear systems and processes in place to ensure the service ran safely and effectively.
The registered manager and senior management team were passionate about ensuring people remained at the focus of everything they did and were committed to achieving positive outcomes for them. A staff member told us, "Management is brilliant. [Registered manager name] is so supportive, has plenty of time for the team, and is passionate about looking after us. That creates a great environment, which in turn benefits the people we support."
The provider had clear aims and objectives which all staff were committed to meeting which were outlined in their statement of purpose, “To enable each person to lead an ordinary life by offering a wide and varied spectrum of services tailored to their individual needs. By promoting independence, autonomy and integration into the community, everyone can develop the skills to lead a fulfilling and empowered life.”
Throughout the assessment, our observations showed people were clearly comfortable in their home and with staff. People were offered choices, communicated with in a way which was meaningful to them, and had their dignity and privacy respected.