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Bales Court

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Barrington Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3EJ (01306) 879838

Provided and run by:
Achieve Together Limited

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

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment: 23 April 2025 to 6 May 2025

 

The service is a supported living setting, providing support to up to 8 people with a learning disability and/or autism. Supported living services deliver personal care to people as part of the support that they need to live in their own homes. The personal care is provided under a separate contractual arrangement to those for the person's housing. At the time of our assessment, the service was delivering care to 6 people.

 

The inspection was prompted by an incident that occurred at the service. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management and culture of the service. This inspection examined those risks. We identified action had been taken to resolve this.

 

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ (RSRCRC) guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found the service was meeting the principles of RSRCRC.

 

Staff and the new management team were committed to making improvements to the culture and quality of the service. The provider had identified areas for improvement which the staff and management team were working hard to action. Further time was required to ensure all areas of improvements identified were addressed and to allow any new processes to be fully embedded

Lessons were learnt where incidents had occurred to improve the quality of care and prevent reoccurrence. Staff were aware of their responsibility to safeguard people from abuse. Risks to people were managed effectively to keep them safe and care plans reflected their needs. Staff told us, “Our vision is for people to live a good life.” Improvements were needed in the management of medicines, but the management team were responsive to the issues we identified and provided assurances these had been dealt with immediately following our assessment.

 

People were supported to access the services they required for their physical health and wellbeing. People’s rights were protected in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The provider had advocated for people to ensure their home was of a good standard. This had resulted in the building undergoing a full refurbishment.

 

The provider was delivering additional support to the management team to aid improvement in the service. Staff were complimentary of the new management team and felt supported and listened to. Staff were being empowered to have more responsibility in the running and improvement of the service, as well as being supported to manage their work life balance.

25 March 2022

During a routine inspection

About the service

Bales Court is a supported living service which provides support to people in their own home. The service can accommodate up to eight people and was fully occupied at the time of our inspection.

The people who lived at the service at the time of our inspection were aged between 60 and 88 years old and all received personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Some people also had complex needs related to their age, health, mobility and learning disability.

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.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

Staff had the training and information they needed to provide people’s care in a safe way.

Staff managed risks well to keep people safe.

Staff managed people’s medicines safely and supported people to access healthcare services when they needed them.

The registered manager and staff were proactive in seeking way to improve people’s well-being and quality of life.

Staff supported people to identify their goals and aspirations and to live meaningful lives.

Right care:

Staffing levels were calculated based on people’s needs and people had access to staff when they needed them.

Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity.

People had opportunities to take part in activities they enjoyed and to access their local community.

Right culture:

The registered manager had created a culture in which staff valued people’s individuality and protected their rights.

Staff felt valued for the work they did and had opportunities to develop their skills and experience.

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.

Quality monitoring systems were effective in keeping people safe and ensuring they received good quality care.

The registered manager and staff had established effective relationships with other professionals involved in people’s care.

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 the service under the previous registered provider was Good, published on 9 August 2019.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of the service’s registration under the current registered provider .

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.