Autism Wessex - Middle Path

Updated 6 July 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Autism Wessex – Middle Path is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Autism Wessex – Middle Path is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. A new manager had been in post for 2 months and had submitted an application to register. We are currently assessing this application. The manager is registered manager for one of the provider’s other locations.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 5 June 2023 and ended on 12 June 2023. We visited the service on 5 June 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with all 4 people who lived at the service and 2 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and received written feedback from 4 members of staff including the manager, support workers and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We received written feedback from 1 health professional.

We reviewed a range of records. These included all 4 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 6 July 2023

About the service

Autism Wessex - Middle Path is a residential care home for up to 4 people who are autistic or who have other complex needs linked to brain injury. The home comprises of the main house, which accommodates 3 people and an attached 1 bedroom annexe. At the time of the inspection there were 3 people living in the main part of the home and 1 person living in the annexe.

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 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.

Right Support:

Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. People told us they felt safe. Relatives and a health professional agreed. A familiar and consistent group of care staff meant staff knew people well and understood their individual 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 did support this practice.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People received their medicines on time and had annual reviews to ensure they were not over medicated. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture:

Inconsistent management of the service since the last inspection in 2018 had impacted the culture, team cohesion and had made staff feel unsettled. Staff told us they did not always feel supported by the management. A manager had started at the home 2 months prior to the inspection, recognised the issues we found and was working with the provider and staff on a service improvement plan to address the issues and provide stability.

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 15 March 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Autism Wessex – Middle Path 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.