Autism Together - 41 Church Road

Updated 14 October 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 20 September 2017 and was announced. It was carried out by an Adult Social Care Inspection manager. The manager was given 48 hours’ notice because the location is a small care home for adults who may be out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Before the inspection we contacted Wirral Council's Quality Monitoring and Contracts department. They told us that they had no concerns about the service. We looked at all of the information that CQC had received about and from, the service since the last inspection. This included notifications about issues that had happened in the service.

During the inspection we looked at all parts of the premises. We spoke with the manager, and one other members of staff. We met with the people who lived at the home, and following the inspection we contacted one relative by telephone. We observed staff interacting with people in the home. We looked at medication storage and records. We looked at staff rotas and supervision records. We looked at maintenance records. We looked at care records for two of the three people who lived at the home. We also visited the providers main offices and looked at staff training information.

Updated 14 October 2017

41 Church Road provides accommodation and support for two adults who have autism. The home is run by the Autism Together, a charity who provide services for people with autism.

The home is a detached house in the area of Bebington on the Wirral. At the time of our inspection there were three people living there.

At the last inspection the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

We spoke with the three people who lived in the home and one relative who all gave positive feedback about the home and the staff who worked in it.

Staff spoken with and records seen confirmed training had been provided to enable them to support the people with their specific needs. We found staff were knowledgeable about the support needs of people in their care. We observed staff providing support to people throughout our inspection visit. We saw they had positive relationships with the people in their care.

We found medication procedures at the home were safe. Staff responsible for the administration of medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required. Medicines were safely kept with appropriate arrangements for storing in place.

The registered manager understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions. We saw that people were supported to make their own decisions and their choices were respected.

Care plans were person centred and driven by the people who lived who lived in the home. They detailed how people wished and needed to be cared for. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required.

Complaints were taken seriously and managed well so that people felt listened to and had their concerns dealt with.

The registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits of the service and staff meetings to seek the views of staff about the service. They also regularly spoke with the people who lived in the home.