Hawabu House

Hawabu House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for three children and one adult at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to six people.

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

People told us they felt safe and staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to keep people safe. There were recruitment processes in place and recruitment checks were carried out before staff were appointed. This ensured suitable staff were appointed to support people. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to personal protective equipment.

Staff received induction training and the provider carried out competency checks to assess whether staff were working in line with best practice.

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 kind and caring staff who knew them well. People’s individual needs were respected and staff supported people with dignity and respect.

People’s care and support was planned in partnership with them and risk assessments were regularly updated.

The provider had an adult living at the service which could potentially pose a risk to children living there too, however, however, we did not find any immediate risk to people living at Hawabu House at the time of inspection. The provider carried out audits to oversee the quality of the service. The provider worked well with other health professionals to ensure the needs of people were met.

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. The model of care maximises people’s choice, control and independence. Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and 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

The last rating for this service was good (published 14 January 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the provider delivering care to children outside their registration conditions. As a result, we undertook a full comprehensive inspection to assess whether people were receiving safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care.

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. We will also meet with the provider to discuss how they intend to continue to provide care to the different age groups at the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were cared for by staff who were trained in recognising and understanding how to report potential abuse. Staff knew how to raise any concerns about people’s safety and shared information so that people’s safety needs were met. There was a system in place to record accidents and incidents and staff told us these were reviewed for learning.

Staff were available to people and demonstrated good knowledge about people living at the home. People were supported by staff to have their medicines and records were maintained of medicines administered. Staff maintained good hygiene however we found that protective equipment could be used more consistently, the provider took immediate action to address this.

Staff told us training helped them meet the specific needs of the people living at the home and they attended regular training to ensure they kept their knowledge updated.

Staff understood the importance of ensuring people agreed to the care and support they received. The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities in regard to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People were supported to enjoy a healthy diet with a choice of meals. People were supported to access professional healthcare outside of the home, for example, visits with their GP. Healthcare professionals gave positive feedback on the service provided and said communication with staff was good.

We saw people were relaxed around the staff supporting them. We saw positive interactions and staff showed us that they knew the interests, likes and dislikes of people. People were supported to enjoy various activities and staff ensured that they were respectful of people’s choices and decisions.

Staff felt supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively and told us that the management team were approachable and if they had any concerns they would be listened to.

The management team ensured regular checks were completed to monitor the quality of the care that people received. There was good communication with other agencies.

The provider wanted to develop the service further and they worked in partnership and collaboration with other key organisations to support care provision.

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 10/08/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

The inspection was prompted due to whistleblowing concerns regarding the approach of staff and the management team and a restriction on choices of people living there. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

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.