Wasdale Court

Wasdale Court is a residential care home providing support and accommodation for up to nine younger adults with a learning disability or with autistic spectrum disorder, Physical disability, or mental health. On the day of inspection there were eight people at the service.

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 Care Quality Commission (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 Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. We observed positive interactions between people and staff. People’s care and treatment support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Relatives told us they were involved in care planning and could attend meetings. Staff assessed people’s risks appropriately and encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Support:

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. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and achieve their aspirations and goals. The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well-furnished and well-maintained environment. People were supported to make decisions following best practice in decision making and staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Culture:

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality of life of their choosing. Staff told us they enjoyed their job and making a positive difference to someone’s life. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care and staff evaluated the quality of care supported to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity. Relatives told us when they visited the service the atmosphere was good; staff were always pleasant and caring and that they would recommend the service to others.

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 16 June 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staff training and staff and management conduct. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, effective 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 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.

Follow up

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

Wasdale Court is a care home providing support and accommodation for up to nine younger adults with a learning disability or with autistic spectrum disorder, physical disability, or mental health, some people may live with multiple conditions at the same time. On the day of inspection there were five people 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.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. The model of care and support provided to people living at the home maximised their choice, control and independence. People were involved in all aspects of their care and future planning. Care provided at the home was centred around the person and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management team and support staff ensured people lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

People were kept safe from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff to keep people safe. People received their medicines on time and as prescribed and staff followed good infection control practices.

People were supported to purchase, prepare and cook their own meals and snacks. The home was specially adapted to meet people's diverse needs and the décor of individual bedrooms reflected people's different preferences.

People's needs were thoroughly assessed, and staff used this information to provide people with the right care in a way they preferred. Staff supported people to engage in meaningful activities and avoid social isolation.

The home was warm and welcoming, and staff demonstrated a genuine desire to support people to the best of their abilities.

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.

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

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection due to this being the service’s first inspection.

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.

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.