1 Lichfield Lane, Richmond upon Thames, a home for up to eight people with learning disabilities has been rated as overall Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.
The service, which is run by London Care Partnership, was rated Outstanding for being effective, responsive and well-led and rated Good for being safe and caring.
Although people using the service have limited verbal communication, their positive body language and displays of affection towards staff throughout CQC’s visit demonstrated that they enjoyed living at Lichfield Lane and this was confirmed by relatives who felt that staff treated and supported them well.
People using the service were younger adults who had moved from residential schools, other care home placements or parental homes where their needs could no longer be fully met. Their move to Lichfield Lane was found to have a hugely positive impact on their lives with progress being demonstrated by their personal achievements and opportunities to try new experiences as well as a substantial reduction of incidents where people displayed anxiety or anger through aggressive behaviour.
Where aggressive behaviour did occur staff understood that this was an expression of people's emotions and feelings, calming the situation and finding out and addressing what was wrong based on a thorough knowledge of each person living at the home.
Relatives said that whilst staff treated people's safety as of great importance they still recognised that people using the service must be enabled to take acceptable risks to take on new experiences and opportunities. People received a service that was individual to them and adapted with them as their needs changed in line with the skills and confidence they developed, resulting in more fulfilling and enjoyable lives.
The National Autistic Society recognised the person centred care and individualised support provided and accredited the organisation. It was also acknowledged that the organisation worked well with other stakeholders, seeking their opinions and checking if they were satisfied with the service provided.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“We were impressed by the excellent quality of care provided at 1 Lichfield Road. The culture of the service, staff and organisation as a whole was open, transparent, progressive and committed to continuous improvement with care and support centred on the individual.
“We found that people and their relatives felt valued as did staff who considered themselves as important representatives of the organisation. Relatives said the management team and organisation were approachable, responsive, encouraged feedback from people and consistently monitored and assessed the quality of the service provided. They felt that this was an outstanding service and organisation and their views were supported by health care professionals.”
You can read the report in full on our website.
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We were impressed by the excellent quality of care provided at 1 Lichfield Road
Deborah Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care