Archived: Weston Villa

Weston Villa is a care home service that is registered to provide care for up to eight people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were eight people living in the home.

The care home accommodates people across two separate buildings. Weston Villa has four self-contained flats which accommodates four individuals, and the second building known as Henson Court comprises of a communal lounge, kitchen and sensory room with individual bedrooms with en-suite facilities, this also accommodates four people. Weston Villa and Henson Court are registered as one service; in the report we will talk about the service as one location.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People were safe, risk assessments were in place and they were reviewed regularly. Staff had received training in safeguarding and could recognise signs of abuse and knew when and how to report it.

Staff were recruited safely, recruitment procedures ensured only suitable staff were employed.

Medicines were managed, stored and disposed of safely. Senior staff were trained and responsible for giving people their medicine.

The home was clean and well maintained and people were protected from the spread of infection.

People received personalised care that supported their choices, lifestyle, religion and culture as well as their personal and health care needs. People were reaching their personal goals and achieving their ambitions.

Information was given to people in a format that met their communication needs.

People were supported to access health care services when needed and the staff and the management team worked in partnership with healthcare professionals.

Staff were trained and had the skills needed to do their job. They received regular training updates and support and were well supervised.

Pre-admission assessments and visits took place to ensure the service could meet people's needs prior to them moving into the home.

A complaints procedure was in place and complaints were responded to in line with the provider’s policy.

The provider, management team and staff had developed an open and honest culture and were knowledgeable about their responsibilities.

The registered manager and provider had good oversight of the service from the quality monitoring processes in place.

Learning and skill development was actively encouraged, and staff felt confident in their roles.

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 service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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 11 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to people to meet their needs. People were consistently protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and ongoing professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

Staff continued to support people in a way that was kind, caring and courteous. People’s individuality was understood and this enabled staff to work effectively with people to enable them to reach their goals.

Staff were committed to supporting people in a way that focused on responding to areas of people’s lives where they faced particular challenges. The staff team was consistent in their approach and staff developed positive relationships with people, which were focussed on enabling people to overcome their individual challenges and meet their aspirations.

People had detailed personalised plans of care in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences. These plans were focussed on enabling people to progress and learn new life skills that would enhance their wellbeing and staff worked consistently with people to enable them to reach their goals.

People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint; the provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive. The feedback about the home complimented the staff for their understanding of people’s needs and consistent approach in helping people to reach their goals.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager was a visible role model in the home. People, their relatives and staff told us that they had confidence in the manager’s ability to provide consistently high quality managerial oversight and leadership to the home.

We saw that each person had a care plan for decision making which outlined how they were enabled to make and communicate decisions. It also outlined who should be involved in making decisions in their best interests if they were unable to understand a more complex decision.

We saw that care records contained relevant information for staff to meet people's individual care needs. This included information about people's preferred routines and how staff should support people's physical and emotional wellbeing.

We spoke with three staff members about safeguarding, they were able to tell us about their role in safeguarding people from the risks of abuse and harm. We looked at the minutes to a recent staff meeting and saw that staff had discussed safeguarding and how to report concerns.

We saw that there were systems in place to monitor care records; the care people received; medication; risk assessments, infection control and health and safety.

We looked at the quality assurance feedback where people were asked to comment if they were satisfied with the services provided in the home and could add comments or return these anonymously if they wished. We noted comments such as 'Everyone working with (relationship supplied) are excellent, they know his needs and emotions, the home has a friendly atmosphere and happy. This is a happy place for my (relationship supplied) which makes me happy and in a good place with myself, thanks you to everybody'. Another stated 'All the staff know my relatives wants, needs, likes and dislikes really well which is very important for us to be told when a person is non verbal all that is happening, we feel very happy that staff care for my relative'.

Staff demonstrated they were aware how to support and protect people. This was reflected in peoples' support plans, risk assessments and other supporting paperwork we viewed.