Pathway House

Ratings

• Overall

  Outstanding

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Outstanding

• Caring

  Outstanding

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

Date of assessment: 14th to 30th May 2025.

Pathway House is a care home supporting people who may be autistic or living with a learning disability with personal care. The service can support up to 12 people and 7 people were living at the service at the time of our inspection.

At our last inspection the service was in breach of 4 regulations of the Health and Social Care Act (2014) in relation to safe care and treatment, person-centred care, dignity and respect and good governance. At this inspection the service had improved and is no longer in breach of any regulations. The service has improved from Requires improvement to Outstanding at this inspection.

The way in which people’s needs had been assessed and reassessed was exceptional and had led to some extremely good experiences and outcomes for people. The management and staff team used best practice guidance to enable people to have the best experiences of support they could have. Staff supported people to live healthy lives in innovative ways, whilst maintaining and respecting their choices. This had a hugely positive impact for people. People were supported in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Staff were incredibly kind, caring and supportive and were committed to supporting people to live the way they wanted to. People were fully in control of their care and support and staff prioritised supporting them to be as independent as they chose to be. People were treated as individuals and there was a focus on how best to support them with their own personal preferences, likes and dislikes. The positive outcomes people had been supported to achieve as a result of staff support were excellent. People were safe being supported by the staff team. Staff were trained and knew how to report safeguarding concerns. Risks to people had been assessed including in relation to medicines. Staff supported people to take positive risks. There were enough trained and competent staff to support people safely. The environment of the service was safe, and staff followed good infection and prevention control (IPC) procedures. People were supported in line with their preferences and were supported to follow their interests both at the service and in the local community. People’s care plans were clear and detailed, and staff supported people to set and achieve goals that were important to them. The management team had a good oversight of the service and audits were effective in identifying, making and sustaining improvements. There was a positive culture at the service, people were happy with their support and staff enjoyed their job roles.

People's experience of this service

People were happy living at the service. We observed people to be content and relaxed whilst being supported by the staff team. Staff supported people to have a full and active life in line with their preferences and choices about how they liked to spend their time. As a result of the support people had, they had experienced very positive outcomes. They had been supported to increase their independence in a lot of areas, become a part of their community and follow their favoured past times. People had been supported to be fully in control of their support and make choices in all areas of their lives. As a result of this they were no longer reliant on restrictive ways of support when they felt upset or anxious. The management and staff team had supported people to drastically improve their physical and mental health. People who had found it difficult to stay at a service for a long time had been living at the service for an extended period and felt very relaxed and ‘at home’ at the service. One person told us, ‘‘I am happy here. [Staff] treat me like a true gentleman.’’