Tristford

Tristford is a residential care home that accommodates up to 12 adults who have a learning and or physical disability. The service is a large, converted property. Accommodation is arranged over two floors and there is a lift to assist people to get to the upper floor. At the time of the inspection there were 11 people with physical disabilities living at the service.

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

¿ People had choice and control over their lives. They set goals with staff and were supported to develop and maintain their independence.

Right care

¿ People planned their care with staff and told us staff supported them in the way they preferred. People were supported to maintain relationships with their friends and family and make new friends when they wished. They told us they had privacy and staff treated them with dignity and respect.

Right culture

¿ People were supported by experienced staff they knew well. There was a clear ethos of care with all staff valuing people’s independence and autonomy. This was supported by the registered manager and provider. One person told us they had “freedom” to do what they wanted.

People told us they felt safe living at Tristford. One person told us, “I couldn’t live in a better place”. Staff knew how to identify and report any safeguarding concerns. People were confident to raise any concerns they had and told us staff always acted on concerns they raised.

There were enough staff with the skills and competence to meet people’s needs. People described the staff as “brilliant”, “fantastic” and “I couldn’t ask for better people”.

Risks to people had been identified and assessed. Action had been taken to support people to remain independent and any risks associated with this had been assessed and reduced. Lessons had been learnt when things had gone wrong and the provider had taken action to prevent similar incidents occurring again. People’s medicines were managed well, and they received their medicines as prescribed.

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. The registered manager knew when and how to apply to deprive some people of their liberty in their best interests. People were not restricted and were free to come and go as they pleased.

The service was clean, and people were protected from the risk of the spread of infection. People’s rooms had been personalised and they considered the service to be their home.

The service was led by the registered manager. Staff felt supported and were clear about their roles and what was expected of them. Checks on the quality of the service were completed regularly and action was taken to address any shortfalls found. People, their relatives and staff had been asked for their feedback on the service and this had been used to make improvements.

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 (11 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was triggered in part by potential risks around the management of the service. Since our last inspection the directors of the company have changed.

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

Recommendations

We made a recommendation about involving people in the selection of new staff.

Follow up

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

Tristford is a residential care home that accommodates up to 12 adults who have a learning and or physical disability. At the time of the inspection 10 people were living at the service.

The care service had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People were supported to live an ordinary life, like any citizen.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People told us they enjoyed living at the service and were able to take part in activities they enjoyed.

• People had developed strong friendships and told us they thought of the staff as family.

• People were encouraged to be part of the community and support charities and organisations with fund raising.

• The provider encouraged people to be part of the organisation by asking their opinions and asking people to be part of their quality control process, including other services run by the provider.

• People were supported to take risks, staff completed risk assessments to ensure people were as safe as possible.

• People told us they were involved in planning their support and care. They were supported to be as independent as possible.

• The building had been adapted to meet people’s needs and improvements were continuing.

• People benefited from staff who were recruited safely and received the training they needed to support people safely.

• Information was available in formats that people could access and understand, including the complaints procedure. People told us they knew how to complain.

• The registered manager completed checks on the quality of the service and acted when shortfalls were identified.

• We observed people being treated with kindness and respect. People’s decisions were respected, and they were supported to access health professionals when required.

• People benefited from an open and transparent culture in the service. They appeared to be comfortable in the company of the registered manager, who understood their needs.

Rating at last inspection:

In May 2018 the provider of the service changed. Therefore, MNP Complete Care Group changed legal entity to become MNP Complete Care Limited. However, the registered manager, staff and policies and procedures remained the same.

At the inspection of the predecessor, Tristford was rated Good (published 13 December 2017).

Why we inspected:

Scheduled inspection based on timescale for unrated services.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service.

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