Tudor Lodge

About the service

Tudor Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to 7 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 7 people.

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

Right Support:

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. People received care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. People were able to personalise their rooms. Staff helped people access specialist healthcare support in the community. They supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. Staff supported people with their medicines to achieve the best possible health outcome and helped people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care:

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People took part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture:

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People received good quality care and support because staff were well trained and could meet their needs and wishes. People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 28 February 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

Follow up

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

Heathcotes (Tudor Lodge) provides 24-hour residential care for adults with learning disabilities, autism, and associated challenging behaviour. The service has seven en-suite bedrooms over three floors. The first and second floor rooms are accessible by stairs. There is a modern kitchen diner, two communal lounges and a well-maintained garden. At the time out our inspection six people were using the service.

A registered manager was in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

Information was available to people to explain what they should do if they felt unhappy or did not feel safe. The staff members we spoke with demonstrated a good knowledge on how to recognise abuse and how to report any concerns. Staff were familiar with the whistle-blowing procedure and told us they would follow it if appropriate.

Staff protected people from risk while minimising restrictions on people’s choice and control. Staff told us about the risk people faced both in the service and in the community and how they could help to reduce risk but still encourage people’s independence.

People were cared for by staff who received appropriate training and support to do their job well. Staff felt supported by managers. There were adequate numbers of staff to support people and staffing numbers were flexible depending on people’s needs and activities. The service followed safe recruitment practice.

There were appropriate arrangements in place for the storage, administering, recording and disposal of medicines. Staff administered medicines safely. All areas of the home were clean and well maintained. Cleaning schedules were in place and staff had access to personal protective equipment when required.

People were supported to keep healthy and well. They were supported to attend appointments with GP’s and other healthcare professionals when they needed to. People were encouraged to make health choices about their food and supported to have sufficient amounts to eat and drink. Risks associated to people’s diet had been identified and staff knew what to do to manage this risk

People were offered choices, supported to feel involved and to have maximum choice and control of their lives while staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Staff knew how to communicate effectively with each individual according to their needs.

People were relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff. Staff supported people in a way which was kind, caring, and respectful and encouraged people to follow their own hobbies, activities and interests.

Care records focused on people as individuals and gave clear information to people and staff. People were encouraged to make decisions about their care and support needs. These were reviewed with them regularly by staff.

The provider had a number of audits and quality assurance systems to help them understand the quality of the care and support people received and look at ways to continually improve the service.