Archived: Eastway Romford

Updated 18 February 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides a holiday experience and personal care to people with learning disabilities, some of whom may be non-verbal.

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

Notice of inspection

Our inspection was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice because we wanted to be sure that a member of the management team would be in the office to support with the inspection.

We visited the provider’s office on 14 January 2020. The inspection activity started on 14 January 2020 and ended on 14 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection, we reviewed relevant information that we had about the service including any notifications of safeguarding or incidents affecting the safety and wellbeing of people. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We also checked the last inspection report, the provider's action plan and requested feedback from social care professionals.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and three staff.

We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed three people’s care plans. We also looked at staff recruitment and training records, quality audits, rotas and incident records.

After the inspection

We were unable to speak with people on the telephone, due to their needs but we spoke with two relatives of people using the service for their feedback.

Updated 18 February 2020

Eastway Romford is a day opportunities service providing holidays in the UK for people with learning disabilities and/or autism, who require personal care. At the time of the inspection, three people had used the holiday service. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people received personal care while on holiday. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People who used the holiday service were kept safe and enjoyed themselves.

Staff ensured the holiday was suitably organised to meet all people’s needs. Risks associated with people's needs were assessed before they went on holiday to ensure staff understood what action to take. There were procedures to protect people from abuse and staff understood how to report abuse. People’s medicines were managed safely by staff during the holiday. Accidents and incidents were reviewed to learn lessons to help prevent them re-occurring. Enough staff accompanied people on the holiday to provide support to people. Staff were recruited appropriately to ensure they were safe and suitable. Staff followed infection control procedures.

Staff received training to provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge. Staff felt supported by the management team. They received regular supervision to monitor their performance.

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.

People maintained their health and nutrition with balanced meals. The service worked in collaboration with health care professionals, such as GPs and speech and language therapists to maintain people’s health. People were supported to remain independent as much as possible. They were involved in decisions made about their care and they were supported by relatives.

Staff were kind, respectful and caring towards people. Staff understood the importance of promoting equality and diversity. They respected people's privacy and confidential information at all times.

People’s communication needs were assessed and staff understood how to communicate with people who had difficulty speaking. The holiday service helped people to avoid social isolation, meet new people and take part in meaningful activities.

People and relatives knew how to make complaints about the service. There were quality assurance systems to monitor the safety of the service through audits, reviews and obtaining feedback from people and relatives about the holiday experience.

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 13 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.