Caretech Community Services (No 2) Limited - 100 Woodcote Grove Road

Caretech Community Services (No.2) Limited - 100 Woodcote Grove Road is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to a maximum of 6 people. The service provides support to people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people living in a 5 bedroom house with a 1 bedroom self-contained annexe. At the time of our inspection there were 5 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

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. The service made reasonable adjustments for people so they could be fully involved in discussions about how they received support.

The service worked in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This meant the provider supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making.

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. The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that achieved the best possible health outcome.

People's equality characteristics and individual diversity were considered when providing their care and support. People's care plans included information for staff to support people with their equality and diversity needs and wishes.

Right Care

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds and pictures could interact comfortably with staff and others involved in their care and support because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff.

People received good quality care and support because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs.

Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views.

People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 21 November 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

This was a focused inspection that considered the key questions safe and well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

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 Caretech Community Services (No.2) Limited - 100 Woodcote Grove Road 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.

Woodcote Grove Road is a care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to six people with a learning disability. The accommodation includes six single occupancy bedrooms of which two are self-contained flats. There were six people using the service at the time of our inspection.

At the last inspection in May 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good. The service demonstrated they continued to meet the regulations and fundamental standards.

People's needs were assessed and reviewed to ensure they received all the support they needed. The care plan records included important information on how each person liked to live their life. People were encouraged to set personal goals and were supported to achieve these.

Risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and kept under review. Staff took action to minimise these risks and keep people safe. Care plans provided guidance for staff to support the positive management of behaviours that may challenge the service and others.

Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had about people’s care and welfare and how to protect them from abuse. The provider followed an appropriate recruitment process to employ suitable staff.

People were supported to keep healthy and take their medicines safely. Any changes to their health or wellbeing were responded to quickly. Referrals were made to other professionals as necessary to help keep people safe and well.

There were enough staff to support people’s needs and staff worked flexibly to support people with their preferred interests, activities and hobbies. People enjoyed varied social and leisure activities and had opportunities to try new ones.

The service continued to be kept clean, well maintained and furnished to comfortable standards. The standards of décor and personalisation by people who used the service supported this.

People were 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. Staff showed understanding, patience and treated people with respect and dignity.

There was an established registered manager who continued to provide effective leadership. Staff felt supported in their roles and kept their knowledge and skills updated through ongoing training. The registered provider had values for the service, which were known and shared by the staff team.

There was an open and inclusive atmosphere and effective communication. People, their families and staff were encouraged to share their views and contribute to developing the service. People knew how to complain and make suggestions, and were confident their views would be acted upon.

The provider continued to use effective systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service and make improvements when needed. Action plans were followed to address any areas that required attention.

We saw that the home had very recently made great efforts to ensure that all documentation regarding people who used the service, including relevant policies, were in a format suitable for people living at the home. The home had also recently increased the range and number of community activities available to people who used the service.

The lack of stability caused by the frequent changes in manager, and by the recent departure of the regional manager had impacted on the welfare of people who used the service. However, was hoped that with the recent appointment of a new manager who held a strategic overview that outcomes would improve for people within the service.