Leigh Court Centre

Leigh Court Centre is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes and a number of supported living services. At the time of the inspection 16 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right care;

People were supported by staff who had checks undertaken to ensure staff were suitable, although we have made a recommendation in relation to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks as these were not always in place prior to staff employment. People were happy with the care and support they received from staff and staff knew people well. People were supported in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

Right Support;

People’s care plans contained important information relating to their individual needs, routines, likes and dislikes. Staff promoted people’s independence and choice and if required information was provided in an alternative format.

Right Culture;

People received support from staff who felt well supported and who were recognised for their individual contribution. People were encouraged to raise concerns and provide feedback with staff so any problems could be resolved. People were empowered to access the local community such as cafés, the gym and places of interest. Staff supported people to access employment opportunities along with hobbies they enjoyed.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Published 16 June 2018 and was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted as we had not inspected this service since 2018.

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.

Recommendations

We made one recommendation in relation to staff having a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in place prior to starting their employment.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

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

Leigh Court Centre provides personal care and care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented, and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

There were two houses, one in Bristol and the other in Clevedon. One other person received personal care within the North Somerset area. Both houses had a kitchen, dining area, an office and a staff sleeping room. People lived in their own flats that had a kitchenette area, bed, bathroom and chair and or dining area. The service was registered to provide personal care. At the time of the inspection the service was delivering personal care to 11 people.

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.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People’s support from Leigh Court Centre was individualised person centred care that enabled people to live meaningful lives. People enjoyed participating and achieving individual goals that were inclusive and personal to them. People received care that improved their health, wellbeing, independence and that enabled them to gain new skills and access their local community.

People and relatives felt the care provided was supportive and kind and caring. The service had a positive culture that enabled staff to feel valued and recognised for the work they did. Staff received training, supervisions and an annual appraisal as well as bespoke training as required. People, relatives and staff all spoke highly of the value of the organisation and this was reflected in their experiences.

The organisation respected people. People experienced care that was dignified and inclusive respecting people’s individual characteristics. People were enabled to live healthier lives which was reflected in people’s achievements including improvement to their health and diet.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place that identified shortfalls including any actions required. People and relatives feedback was actively sought by the service through questionnaires, meetings, and an electronic satisfaction system. All feedback received as part of the inspection described the service as meaningful, supportive and empowering.

People and staff felt the service was safe, inflection control procedures were adhered to prevent cross infection.

As part of this inspection we visited two houses that were shared by people who received support from the service. People we met with spoke positively about the support they received with their medicines. We saw that arrangements were in place which promoted people's independence to manage their medication.

We found that the upkeep of the records had improved. The records we looked at were more fully completed and the information recorded was legible. Changes had been made, which helped to ensure that confidentiality of personal information was maintained.

People told us that they talked to staff about the support they wanted. The staff team were described as "very good". People said that staff helped with their daily activities, such as making appointments and managing their money.

People's independence was being promoted in the community. Plans had been written which set out the support that had been agreed with people. The plans helped to ensure that staff supported people in a consistent way which met their individual needs.

Support with medicines was included in people's individual plans. One person told us that staff helped them with their tablets which they felt was safer for them. However, we found that there was a risk to people's health and wellbeing because of a lack of accurate information about the medication they received.

The staff told us that they felt supported in their work and received training and supervision on a regular basis. Arrangements were being made to monitor the quality of service that people received.

People told us what they thought about the service they received from the staff who visited them in their individual flats. We met one person who lived in a flat who received support with their personal care from the agency. Examples of comments made included 'the staff are kind', 'they are very good to me', 'the staff make my meals, I like them ', and 'the staff are good to me'.

People had a copy of their personal care plan in their flats. The care plans clearly showed how the staff provided people with the personal care they required. People benefited because they were supported by staff who had a good insight into their range of needs and how to assist them to meet them.

People were supported by staff who understood their role in keeping them safe from the risk of abuse.

People felt well supported by the staff and there were a sufficient number of them to properly meet their care needs.

People were encouraged by the staff to make complaints about the service if they had them. When people made complaints they were properly investigated by the provider.