Park View Road

Park View Road provides support to up to 10 people with learning disabilities and autistic people, at the time of our inspection, 8 people were living at the home. The building was a large single-story building with 9 bedrooms and a flat that consisted of a bedroom, bathroom and lounge/ kitchen, the flat was integral to the building, at the time of the inspection the flat was empty. Some rooms were en-suite, however not all. There was outside patio area and a drive with parking spaces.

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

Medicines were safely managed, and medicines records were accurately completed. Staff knew people well and we observed positive interactions. Improvements needed to be made to the environment people lived in, to ensure it was clean and well maintained. Inconsistencies in support records did not provide staff with sufficient guidance to safely support people.

Right Care

People and their families told us staff were kind and supported them well. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and the risk of abuse, Staff were trained about how to recognise and report abuse and told us when they would report any concerns. We observed staff interacting with people in a kind and compassionate way. There was a lack of encouragement for people to be engaged in everyday living skills and activities such as cooking, cleaning and laundry tasks.

Right Culture:

Quality assurance processes had not identified all the concerns we identified during our inspection. People and staff were positive about the registered manager and stated that they were approachable and fair to all staff members, and new the people supported well. Some support planning did not always assist people to lead inclusive and empowered lives. Some of this was due to the environment. The registered manager understood further work was needed regarding the building and environment and shared renovation plans regarding this.

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 21 November 2018).

Why we inspected

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Park View Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

Recommendations

We have made 3 recommendations in relation to recruitment, person-centred care and daily records.

The service provider registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 5 September 2017. This was our first inspection of this location under the new provider.

Park View Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Park View Road accommodates 10 people in one adapted building. The service specialises in caring for adults with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection 10 people lived at the home however two people were visiting their relatives and staying overnight for a short period.

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.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 cared for by staff who were kind, caring and knew how to meet their needs. Staff treated people with dignity and respect.

There were enough staff to ensure people were kept safe and received responsive support. Staffing levels were reviewed and amended depending on peoples’ changing needs.

Staff were trained and supported to ensure they had the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs and undertake their role effectively.

Staff knew how to recognise and report concerns about people’s safety and welfare. Systems were in place to ensure risks were appropriately managed.

Accidents and incidents were well documented and analysed to ensure lessons were learned and actions taken to mitigate the risk of repeat incidents.

Medicines were managed in a safe and personalised way.

The home was clean and safe and suitable for vulnerable people to live in. The fire risk assessment and some peoples’ personal emergency evacuation plans needed to be updated, however the registered manager was already addressing this.

People were offered a wide range of freshly prepared food and drink which they told us they enjoyed. Staff had a good understanding of peoples’ dietary needs and how to manage nutritional risk. However, the information within care records about people’s dietary needs and preferences could have been more detailed.

Staff worked in partnership with other healthcare professionals to ensure people maintained good health.

Visitors to the home were warmly welcomed and staff helped to ensure people were able to maintain relationships with people who were important to them.

People were asked for their views about the care they received and how the service should be operated. Staff listened to and acted upon peoples’ views to ensure they provided a personalised and responsive service.

We have made a recommendation to ask the provider to improve the systems in place for reviewing and updating care records.

Staff approached end of life care with compassion and sensitivity. The registered manager had recognised that information recorded around peoples’ end of life wishes could have been improved and they were addressing this.

People who used the service, relatives and staff provided very positive feedback about the registered manager and other members of the management team.

The provider and registered manager had effective systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and were committed to ensuring the quality of care continuously improved.

Staff worked well as a team and ensured the needs of people using the service always came first. Staff had developed their own values and were true to these values in their day to day work.

We found all fundamental standards were being met. Further information is in the detailed findings below.