St Anne's Community Services - Boroughbridge Road

About the service

St Anne’s Community Services – Boroughbridge Road is a residential care home providing personal care to up to three people with a Learning Disability. The service operates from an adapted building in a residential area of Knaresborough. At the time of our inspection there were three 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 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: People were appropriately supported and the model of care promoted people’s choice, control and independence. People were fully involved in planning their day-to-day routines and received support from a consistent staff team. There were enough staff to ensure people received appropriate support. The premises was appropriately adapted to ensure people’s needs were met.

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: Care was person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People were kept safe whilst there was a philosophy of positive risk taking to ensure people were not restricted from day-to-day activities. Medicines were managed safely.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. People and staff spoke positively about the management team and we found a positive person-centred culture within the service. A range of audits and checks took place to provide assurance the service was operating appropriately.

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 (September 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was undertaken due to the age of the previous rating. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

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

The service is provided in a large Victorian style house and located in a residential road close to a range of community amenities and facilities in Knaresborough. At the time of our inspection there were three people living there. A registered manager was in post.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People had risk assessments in place that identified any potential hazards to their well-being. Accidents and incidents were analysed to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. Medicines were stored and administered safely and the premises were well maintained to keep people safe. There were enough staff to meet people's needs and safe recruitment practices helped to prevent unsuitable staff from working at the service.

There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff were able to tell us about different types of abuse and were aware of action they should take if abuse was suspected. They were confident the registered manager would address any concerns.

Staff were kind and caring and respected people's privacy and dignity. Care was person centred and people were provided with choice. Staff included people, listened to how they liked to be supported and knew what their preferences were. Staff knew people well and promoted their independence. People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were provided with sufficient food and drink to maintain their health and wellbeing. Staff supported people to access healthcare professionals and services. They also supported people to follow their interests and take an active part in the wider community. There were individual activity plans in place for each person based on their preferences and needs. Staff were aware of people's individual communication needs and used the most accessible means to share information about their support with them.

The registered manager and provider monitored the quality of service provided to ensure that people received a safe and effective service which met their needs.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary is based on our observations during the inspection, speaking with the staff and from looking at records.

If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary please read our full report.

Some people who used the service had difficulty communicating and were not able to verbally tell us their experiences. We used a number of different methods to help us to understand their experiences including talking with staff, looking at records and observing the care being delivered.

Is the service safe?

Systems were in place to make sure that managers and staff learned from events such as accidents and incidents. This reduced the risks to people and helped the service to continuously improve.

When people were identified as being at risk, their care plans showed the actions that would be required to manage these risks.

The service had policies and procedures in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff received safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act training. This meant people would be safeguarded as required.

Is the service effective?

People's health and care needs were assessed with them, and they were involved in developing their plans of care, wherever possible. From speaking with staff they were able to demonstrate a good understanding of people's care and support needs.

Suitable arrangements were in place for staff to receive updated training to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and experience to meet the needs of people who used the service.

Is the service caring?

We saw staff were attentive and respectful when speaking with or supporting people. The home had a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. We saw that there was some good humoured banter between people living at the home and staff. People looked well cared for and we observed good care practices taking place.

Is the service responsive?

People's needs were assessed and records we looked at showed they received support from health care professionals.

People's preferences, interests and diverse needs had been recorded and care and support had been provided in accordance with people's wishes.

Suitable arrangements were in place for staff to receive updated training to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and experience to meet the needs of people who used the service. This ensured that the outcomes for people would continue to improve.

We saw the staff team acted in a professional manner and responded appropriately to people's care needs. We saw them explain to people what they were going to do and asked permission before they carried out any support or care.

The service carried out annual surveys that included seeking the views of people who used the service. We saw the service used questionnaires in their survey and they had been made available in an easy to read format.

Is the service well-led?

The service had a quality assurance system, and records showed that identified problems and opportunities to change things for the better had been addressed promptly. As a result we could see that the quality of the service was continuously improving.

Staff we spoke with were clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staff had a good understanding of the ethos of the home and the quality assurance systems in place. This helped to ensure that people received a good quality service. They told us the manager was supportive and responsive.

Effective management systems were in place to promote and safeguard people's safety and welfare. For example, health and safety records and peoples care records were up to date and had been reviewed regularly.

We saw from people's care plans that people were supported to live as independently as possible. The home had carried out an assessment of the needs of each person to enable appropriate care and support to be given.

We saw that the people were cared for in a clean, hygienic environment. There were good cleaning routines in place and staff were aware of how to minimise the spread of infection in the home. This was important to help make sure that people were protected from the risk of infection, or other illnesses.

We found that staff overall were well trained and supported to do their jobs well. We also saw that regular checks were carried out by senior management, to monitor the quality of the service.