Archived: St David's APL

Updated 14 May 2019

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 was 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.

Inspection team: The inspection consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type: St David’s APL is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection: The inspection was announced as we wanted to make sure people and staff would be available to speak with us. Inspection site visit activity started on 10 April 2019 and ended on 11 April 2019.

What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority safeguarding adults team, the quality team and other professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we met with everyone living at the service and spoke with five people about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with three relatives. We spoke with three members of care staff, the deputy manager, registered manager and the registered provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care plans and medicine records for all of the people living at the service. We also looked at three staff files around staff recruitment, various records in relation to training and supervision of staff, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 14 May 2019

About the service:

St David’s APL is a residential care home that provides care for up to nine people who have a learning disability or autism spectrum disorders.

There were six people using the service at the time of our visit.

The care service was meeting 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’s experience of using this service:

People lived in a happy and caring environment and had warm and friendly relationships with the staff who supported them and with each other.

People felt safe at the service and told us staff were always kind. One person said, “They’re [staff] very good to me, I like all of them.”

There was a strong person-centred culture. Staff knew the needs and preferences of people well. Staff had developed very positive relationships with people and were seen to display kindness as well as compassionate support to people.

People received personalised care and support which was in line with their care plan. People's privacy and dignity was respected, and independence promoted. Staff were committed to improving the quality of life and opportunities available for people.

People were protected by staff who understood how to protect them from avoidable harm. The risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and action taken to reduce them. There were enough staff deployed to keep people safe. People’s medicines were well managed, and staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. There were systems to learn from mistakes including the detailed analysis of accidents and incidents.

Staff understood and respected people's right to make their own decisions where possible and encouraged people to make decisions about the care they received. Consent had been sought before any care had been delivered in line with legal requirements.

People knew how to make a complaint and they were confident about complaining should they need to.

People were supported by staff who had received appropriate training to carry out their roles. Staff had access to a wide range of training, including training to meet people’s specialist needs. This meant people could be confident that staff had the skills needed to effectively and safely support them.

The registered manager was described as supportive and approachable. They demonstrated a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities as a registered person. The registered manager promoted an open and inclusive culture and worked in partnership with external agencies to ensure people received the care and support they needed.

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and felt respected and valued. The provider’s quality assurance processes were effective in identifying potential risks to people’s safety. There was a continued focus on learning, development and improvement.

Rating at last inspection: At the last comprehensive inspection the service was rated ‘Good’ overall with ‘Requires Improvement’ in ‘effective’. (report published 24 October 2016). A focused inspection took place on 23 March 2017 where the rating in ‘effective’ was rated as ‘Good’.

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

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk