• Care Home
  • Care home

Champion House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Clara Drive, Calverley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, LS28 5QP (01274) 612459

Provided and run by:
Valorum Care Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment: 21 October 2025 to 12 November 2025. The assessment was triggered in response to concerns raised at the last inspection Champion House is a Care Home with Nursing that can accommodate up to 27 people who require support with nursing or personal care needs, some of whom have a may have a physical disability or learning disability. At the time of our assessment, there were 21 people living at the service.

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. At the time of the assessment, the service was not used by anyone with a primary learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

At the last assessment we identified breaches of 5 regulations relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, staffing, recruitment and good governance. Risks associated with people's care had not been assessed effectively, medicines were not always managed safely, and systems had not been effective in identifying concerns. People did not always experience safe pathways and transitions between services. At this assessment we found improvements had been made.

The service demonstrated progress in several areas, particularly in the reporting and review of accidents, incidents, and falls. Information about individual needs and associated risks was gathered from people and those involved in their care, although participation in care reviews and risk assessments was not always clear.

Staff morale was noted to have improved, contributing positively to the overall atmosphere within the service.

Recruitment processes were confirmed as safe, and care plans now provide sufficient detail to support safe and effective care delivery. End-of-life plans were also in place and reflected people’s wishes. Protocols for medicines prescribed on an as-required basis were available, but some lacked adequate guidance for staff on when and how to administer these medicines. No harm was caused to people.

Although staff had completed training, a small number of staff couldn’t demonstrate a full understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, and this was raised with the manager to ensure principles are fully embedded. Feedback from individuals and families regarding involvement in care planning was mixed; some felt engaged, while others reported limited participation or understanding. Similarly, reviews of activities showed mixed feedback, with some people and families stating they were not involved in relative meetings or care reviews. However we found people and their families had been involved in the care planning and risk assessment processes. People were observed being actively involved in activities.

Quality assurance systems have been introduced to monitor care delivery and people’s experiences, including audits of risk assessments, care records, daily notes, and medication charts. While these systems have improved oversight, these have not yet become embedded to ensure long-term effectiveness.

 

During an assessment under our new approach

Champion House - Care Home with Nursing Physical Disabilities is a care home that can accommodate up to 27 people who require support with nursing or personal care needs, some of whom have a learning disability. At the time of our assessment, there were 25 people living at the service. The assessment commenced on 16 May 2024 and was completed on 1 August 2024. This included 2 visits to the service on 16 and 22 May 2024.

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 statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements.

We identified breaches of 5 regulations relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, staffing, recruitment and good governance. Risks associated with people's care were not assessed effectively, medicines were not always managed safely, and systems had not been effective in identifying some concerns we found during this assessment. People did not always experience safe pathways and transitions between services. There had been a lack of stable management, which had created a lack of leadership and left staff feeling unsupported. Where issues had been identified, and concerns raised, they were not always resolved in a timely manner. The provider and interim manager had started addressing these concerns.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

28 February 2022

During a routine inspection

Champion House - Care Home with Nursing Physical Disabilities, known as Champion House, is a care home that can accommodate up to 27 people who require support with nursing or personal care needs, some of whom have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection, there were 26 people living at the service.

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

People told us they felt safe and enjoyed living at the service; their comments included, “I am very happy where I am and wouldn’t change anything.” Relatives gave the same positive feedback.

Some aspects of medication management were not always safe. We found improvements were required in the management, recording and auditing of medication used to thicken drinks for people who were at risk of choking and of creams prescribed to manage risks to people’s skin integrity. We have made a recommendation in relation to the management of thickeners and prescribed creams.

The service did not have a registered manager. Although there was a temporary manager in place and a permanent manager had been recruited, we found effective oversight had not always been maintained in some areas of the such training, supervision and quality of audits. We have made a recommendation in relation to the implementation of effective quality assurance processes.

Risks to people’s care were assessed and managed well. Some areas of moving and handling risk assessments required further detail.

The service followed safe recruitment practices and we found enough staff were available to support people. The service frequently used agency staff to ensure adequate staffing levels and the provider told us they were in the process of recruiting more staff.

At the time of our inspection, the provider was following current guidelines in relation to infection prevention and control, visiting and vaccination as a condition of deployment.

The provider completed person-centred assessments and care plans were updated when required. People were supported to access relevant healthcare services when they needed them, and they were supported to eat and drink well.

Staff’s training and supervision was not always up to date but the provider told us about their plans to ensure this was addressed in the short term. Staff told us they felt well supported in their roles. People and relatives told us staff were knowledgeable and skilled.

People were supported by staff who were caring and respectful. People, relatives and when appropriate, advocates, were involved in making decisions about the care people received.

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. 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. There was a person-centred culture at the service. Support provided promoted people’s choice and control. Communication plans had been developed to ensure staff communicated well with people. There was adapted equipment at the service to meet people’s needs and promote their independence. We observed positive interactions between people and staff.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 31 July 2019 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good (published 27 June 2018).

Why we inspected

This was this service first inspection since it had registered under a new provider on 31 July 2019.

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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements in place at the time of our inspection.

Recommendations

We have made two recommendations. We recommended the provider review the management of thickeners and prescribed creams and we recommended the provider implement effective audits.

Follow up

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