Dimensions 6 The Avenue

Updated 15 August 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the on-site inspection and an Expert by Experience made phone calls to relatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Dimensions 6 The Avenue is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Dimensions 6 The Avenue is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We are improving how we hear people’s experience and views on services, when they have limited verbal communication. We have trained some CQC team members to use a symbol-based communication tool. We checked that this was a suitable communication method, and that people were happy to use it with us. We did this by reading their care and communication plans and speaking to staff or relatives and the person themselves. In this report, we used this communication tool with 5 people to tell us their experience. We used observations and spoke with 6 staff including the registered manager. We spoke with 5 relatives on the telephone.

We looked at a range of documents to run the service including 3 care plans, medicine records, policies and procedures, training records and governance records.

Updated 15 August 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Dimensions 6 The Avenue is a residential care home providing personal care without nursing for people with a learning disability and/or autism. Some people in the home also had other associated needs including mental health and dementia. The service was for up to 8 people. At the time of our inspection 7 people lived at the home.

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

Right Support:

People felt safe and had positive relationships with the staff supporting them. There was a positive, caring culture which promoted independence for people. Staff were recruited in a way that kept people safe.

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. Although, we recommended staff learning more about supporting people who could become distressed and anxious.

Right Care:

People’s care was person-centred and led by them and their needs. Staff spoke fondly about the people they supported and knew them well.

People’s privacy and dignity was always respected by staff. People were able to choose where they spent time in the home.

Right Culture:

The management led an open-door culture. The registered manager encouraged people, relatives and staff to help run the service. This empowered people to be confident and live their lives.

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 2 February 2018).

Why we inspected

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

Recommendations

We have recommended that the provider seeks guidance on restrictive practices.

Follow up

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