Archived: Lisieux House

People’s experience of using this service: People were relaxed and comfortable in Lisieux House. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs and staffing levels were increased at weekends to enable people to access the community when they wished. People were confident requesting support and staff responded promptly to meet people’s needs.

Staff had received safeguarding training and understood how to protect people from all forms of abuse or discrimination. Risks were well managed and staff understood how to meet people’s care and support needs.

Staff were recruited safely and had received induction training in line with current best practice. Staff training was regularly updated to ensure staff had the skills necessary to meet people needs.

Care plans were accurate and informative. They provided staff with detailed guidance on people’s individual needs and communication preferences. These records had been regularly updated and included information about people’s backgrounds to help staff understand their individual needs.

The service was developed and designed before the introduction of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. The principles of Registering the Right Support reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.

The service supports up to 12 people which is significantly more that current best practice guidance. However, the service consists of two buildings, the main house which supports eight people and the bungalow in which a further four people live. People received individualised support in each building and staff were allocated separately to each building each day.

People were encouraged to be as independent as possible and supported to engage with a variety of activities, tasks and chores within the service.

Staff were well motivated and told us their managers were supportive and approachable. Quality assurance systems were appropriate and people’s feedback was valued and acted upon.

Rating at last inspection: At our previous inspection the service was rated Good overall but requires improvement in well led. This was because of issues with record keeping and the service’s quality assurance systems. (Report published 2 December 2016.)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

The full details can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Lisieux House provides residential care and support to 12 younger adults with learning disabilities in the Sutton Coldfield area of Birmingham. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people living there.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

All the people and relatives we spoke with said they received a safe service. We saw that safe procedures were in place to ensure that people received a service that was safe, protected them from harm and ensured their rights were protected. Staff spoken with knew how to keep people safe from abuse. The risk of harm to people receiving a service was assessed and managed appropriately; this ensured that people received care and support in a safe way.

People were supported by staff that were suitably recruited, trained and supervised to ensure they were able to support people well. People received their medicines as prescribed. People were supported by staff that were caring, friendly and committed to people maintaining their independence and individuality. People pursued a range of social, work and community interests to enhance their well-being and their rights were protected.

People were confident that their concerns and complaints would be listened to and acted upon.

People were happy with the service they received. However, systems for monitoring the overall quality of the service were not consistently applied.

We saw that people were able to make choices and decisions about their care and treatment. People were asked to consent to what was happening in their lives and before any care was given.

Staff were aware of people's needs and plans were in place to deliver care in a personalised way. People's health care needs were met through community health services. There were systems in place to identify and manage risks to keep people safe.

People were supported to take part in a variety of activities in the home and the local community which meant that they led fulfilled lives. One person told us, 'I go to rugby matches. I've been bowling today and am going horse riding tomorrow.'

People were supported to maintain contact with relatives or people that were important to them. One person told us, 'I go home every two weeks and come back Sunday evening.'

Systems were in place to ensure only the appropriate people were employed to work at the home.

There were systems in place to ensure people's views were listened to and acted on and systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service.

Everyone living at the home that we spoke with said that they liked living there. We saw that people received the care and support they needed to help them live full and independent lives. One person said, 'I go line dancing.' Another person told us about doing a course at the local college.

People told us that if they were worried about anything they would tell the staff. We saw that systems were in place to ensure that people were safeguarded from abuse.

People told us that they liked the staff that supported them. We found that staff were trained and supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard.

People said they were able to raise any concerns they had with staff. We found that there were systems in place to investigate and respond to people's complaints.