Gabriel House

Gabriel House is a small residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 5 adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people being supported at Gabriel House.

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: Recruitment at the service was not always safe. There was sufficient staff at the service to allow individuals to access the community safely. The environment needed some maintenance and upkeep and we have made a recommendation about this to the service who are already making steps to achieve this. Individuals had positive behaviour support plans which helped staff support individuals and use de-escalation. Staff provided person centred support. Medicines management at the service was safe.

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.

Right Care: There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs and wishes. A small number of agency staff were used to cover staff vacancies however following recruitment this had reduced. We have made a recommendation about agency staff induction. People received person-centred care. Staff recognised and responded to changes to individual's physical and emotional needs.

Right Culture: The quality assurance systems did not provide full oversight of the service. Audits had not highlighted some of the areas we found on inspection. Improvements were needed in oversight and embedding the new systems in place. The service had a new registered manager who was making improvements in this area.

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 08 July 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about oversight and staffing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report. We have assurances that the issues identified are being acted upon by the management team.

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.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to staffing and oversight at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Gabriel House is a small residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to five adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were two people being supported at Gabriel House.

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

People told us they enjoyed living at the service and felt supported by staff. We observed kind and caring exchanges between people and staff. The provider had systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff managed people’s medicines safely.

Staff were recruited safely by the provider. There was a small staffing team in place who provided continuity of care to people living at the service.The provider had an effective infection prevention and control policy in place in line with government guidance. Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

Staff supported people to achieve their personal goals and encouraged healthier lifestyles. Staff had received appropriate training to support people living at the service. Staff completed a thorough induction process.

Staff supported people to be more independent and develop their skills at a suitable pace. Staff knew people well and supported them in a respectful and dignified way. Staff shared examples of how people’s independence had been encouraged.

Staff had developed positive behavioural support plans for people. Staff had good knowledge of the people living at the service and the support they required. These plans had helped to achieve better outcomes for people living at the service.

People were supported, on a daily basis, to go out into the community and on trips to places they enjoyed. People were involved in their care planning.

The staff and the provider shared the same core values around supporting people well and encouraging independence. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and the provider. People felt able to share their views and felt listened to. The registered manager and provider completed regular audits of the service to monitor the quality of care.

The service supported people 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 positive and empowering culture at the service where people were supported to make choices and their independence was encouraged. People received person-centred care and were treated with respect by staff. The provider and staff shared the same core values to support people to lead empowered lives.

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 29 July 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection because the service had not been inspected before.

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 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.