The Care Quality Commission has rated the quality of care provided by The Ridgeway, a supported living service in Romford, Essex, as Outstanding.
The Ridgeway, which provides supported living services and support with personal care to people with learning disabilities and complex needs, is one of the first care services to receive the top rating under CQC’s new approach to inspection.
During an unannounced inspection of the service, run by Care Management Group, in July, CQC found that staff had the skills, knowledge and experience they needed to support people effectively. This included understanding their communication needs and supporting them to make choices about the food they wanted to eat and the activities they wanted to take part in.
People told inspectors that they were supported to be independent, and inspectors saw that they were active in the local community. Everyone living at the service had been supported to find part time employment. Some were also involved in local volunteering, including campaigning on learning disability issues. The provider organised social events which brought together people living at the service and their friends and relatives.
People living at the service told inspectors that staff understood their needs, listened to them, and made them feel valued. Care plans were detailed, and people and their relatives were involved in making decisions about the support they received. People and their relatives knew the management team and told us they would feel comfortable raising concerns if they needed to. Staff told us their managers were approachable.
A full report has been published on the CQC website today: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-335364572.
Sally Warren, Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care in London, said:
“We found that The Ridgeway was providing an outstanding service to people it supported and the team there should be extremely proud of the work they do.
“What really struck us about this service was the level of personalised support that people received, from staff who had the right skills and who treated people with great kindness. People told us they liked the staff who supported them, and one relative told us the care that their loved one received was second to none.
“People should always be cared for by services that are safe, effective, caring, responsive to their needs, and well led. I’d encourage other providers to read this report, and the others we have published on services we have rated Outstanding, to see what they can learn.”
Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“The quality of care which our inspectors found here was outstanding and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the achievements of this service.
“An outstanding service is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved.”
Ends
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For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at The Ridgeway.