Woodways

Woodways is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to younger adults who have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder and may also experience mental health difficulties. The service can support up to six people in six separate apartments on the first floor of the building. At the time of this inspection there were six people living at Woodways.

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

Processes and quality assurance systems needed to be developed. We found people’s care records needed to be reviewed and better organised; infection prevention and control, care records and medicines audits needed to be implemented; and regular supervisions needed to be sustained.

There were systems in place to recognise and respond to any allegations of abuse. Staff had received training in positive behavioural support. Safe recruitment procedures made sure staff were of suitable character and background. There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s care and support needs in a timely way. Medicines were stored safely and securely. There were effective systems in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff were provided with an induction and relevant training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff told us they felt supported by managers and colleagues. 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 to access health and social care services as required. Positive and supportive relationships had been developed between people living at Woodways and the staff. People’s independence was promoted and their dignity was maintained. People were supported to maintain meaningful relationships and to access the community.

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.

Right support

• People’s individual needs were met by the size and design of the service.

Right care

• The care and support provided was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights

Right culture:

• The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of managers and care staff ensured people using services led confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 20 April 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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.

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about inappropriate use of restraint, medicines management, staffing levels and deployment of staff. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. However, we have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements with regards to governance systems and processes. Please see the well-led section of this report for further details.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

We have identified a breach in relation to good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.