Autism Wessex - Barn Close

Updated 28 September 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is 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.

This inspection took place on 22 and 23 August 2018 and was unannounced. This was a comprehensive inspection.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection, we looked at information we held about the provider and home. This included their Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also looked at ¿notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the ¿service is required to send us by law.

We spoke with the manager and four members of staff. We received feedback from two relatives following our inspection and requested feedback from two visiting professionals.

We looked at three people’s care records. We also looked at records that ¿related to how the service was managed, such as staff rotas, staff training records, three staff personnel files and quality ¿assurance audits.

Updated 28 September 2018

This unannounced inspection was carried on 22 and 23 August 2018.

Autism Wessex – Barn Close is a residential care home for up to four people who have an autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were four people living at the home.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the overall rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. During this inspection the rating for the effective key question changed to ‘requires improvement’, however this does not affect the overall rating of good. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The registered manager had left the service and applied to cancel their registration. The provider had appointed a new manager who was about the begin the process of applying for the registered manager position. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

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.

Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and access their community. Risks of exposure to hot water had not been fully considered where water temperatures had run above the recommended temperature. The manager took immediate action to address this. There were arrangements in place to keep people safe in an emergency.

Staff received a range of training to meet the specific needs of people, however some training was not provided in line with the providers’ policy. The manager put a plan in place to address this.

Where people lacked capacity to make specific decisions and staff had made best interest decisions on their behalf, this was not always completed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice.

People were protected from abuse because staff understood how to keep them safe. All staff informed us they were confident concerns would be followed up if they were raised. People appeared happy and relaxed in the company of the staff.

People received their medicines safely. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were recruited safely.

People were involved in planning their menus and supported to eat and drink according to their likes and dislikes.

The provider had plans in place to adapt the environment to meet the changing needs of people living in the home.

We observed that staff interacted well with people and knew them well. People were involved in day to day decisions about the care and support they received. People received care and support which ensured they were able to make choices about their day to day lives.

People were supported to engage in activity programmes. There were systems in place for people to raise concerns and give feedback to staff. Relatives felt confident in raising concerns and that they would be listened to.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the safety and quality of the service. The provider and area manager completed monitoring visits to the service to identify any shortfalls and action required to address these.

We have made a recommendation in relation to the service revisiting guidance relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in relation to supporting people to make decisions.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.