Alverthorpe

Alverthorpe is a residential care home providing personal care to people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. The home can accommodate up to 8 people, at the time of the inspection 7 people were living at the service. Each person was supported in their own personalised bedroom and bathroom areas, with communal spaces available, such as a lounge and dining area.

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

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.

Right Support

People were supported by enough suitably trained staff. Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm. People were supported in a safe environment and risks to people were assessed and mitigated. Staff supported people to access the community for a range of activities. People and their relatives told us staff were kind.

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.

Right Care

Care plans were person centred and provided staff with guidance about how people liked to be cared for. We observed staff offering choices to people and people were involved in how the service was decorated. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and people were supported to become more independent. The service worked closely with external healthcare professionals, to ensure peoples health needs were met.

Right Culture

The service had an open, honest and positive culture. Staff told us they were supported by the management team. Feedback was sought from people, relatives and staff to drive improvements. The registered manager and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Regular audits were undertaken by the management team to promote quality and safety for people.

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 24 October 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to medicines, recording and leadership. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Alverthorpe on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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

Heathcotes Alverthorpe is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Heathcotes Alverthorpe accommodates eight people in one adapted building and the home was full during our inspection.

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.

There was a registered manager in post and they were available both days of the 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.

People were safe as the staff team knew them well, and had detailed, person-centred records to support them. Staff knew how to recognise and respond to any safeguarding concerns, and any learning from such incidents was shared with staff. Risks were managed through positive behaviour support strategies and staff were confident in using Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Interventions (NAPPI) if needed.

Staffing levels ensured people had access to a variety of person-specific activities each day and medicines management was safe. Staff displayed a sound understanding and demonstrated effective infection control practice.

The registered manager was aware of current procedures and guidance for best practice, and this was evident in the policies in use in the home. Staff had access to frequent supervision and training, and encouraged to progress in their careers.

People’s nutrition and hydration needs were managed well, and people at particular risk showed signs of improvement due to staff attentiveness and response. The registered manager accessed appropriate external support as required, including additional training if needed such as with communication strategies.

Staff spoke highly of the teamwork and how supportive colleagues were of each other. They ensured people were treated with kindness and compassion, and provided significant emotional support when people became anxious. Privacy and dignity was promoted at all times.

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.

There was evidence in care records of people’s involvement, or their appointed representative, to ensure their needs were met in line with their preferences and wishes. Activities undertaken endorsed this, as people were supported to visit places they liked and take part in events such as swimming or walks.

Although no specific complaints had been received we found a clear policy, accessible through pictures and people felt able to raise any issues. There was confidence these would be addressed. We saw evidence of many compliments about the home in the recent surveys undertaken and completed by people, relatives and professionals.

It was evident the registered manager was striving for the best outcomes for people living in the service through ensuring all staff were suitably knowledgeable and utilising the partnerships they had built up with external services. The quality assurance systems were robust and showed how the service continually sought to improve.