- Homecare service
Bales Court
Assessment report published 18 June 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
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.
People's experience of this service
We were unable to gather verbal feedback from people about the service they received. Therefore, we spoke to their relatives and advocates, and we observed the care people received.
People were supported by staff who knew them well and how to comfort them in moments of anxiety and distress. Relatives told us, “Staff tend to be long standing so know the residents well and what they need and their preferences” and “Staff are very patient. I’ve never experienced staff getting annoyed.” People were supported to access the community and partake in activities that were important to them and were supported to maintain relationships with relatives and friends. A relative told us, “They keep him occupied with things that he likes to do.” People were empowered to be as independent as possible and make choices about their care where safe to do so.
Relatives felt their family members were safe. One relative told us, “I’m very happy with the service. I feel [Person] is safe and I trust the service.” Another relative said, “I’m happy with the care and support [Person] gets. We feel she is safe there.”
Relatives were communicated with regularly, and felt confident the changes being made in the service would result in good outcomes. One relative told us, “Things are looking up. The communication with the new manger is great, she says she will be updating me every month.” Another relative said, “I’ve had contact with the new manager who has talked about the new changes in the home, like the redecoration and doing the garden.”