Happy Days

Happy Days is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to four people. The service provides support to people who have a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were two people using the service.

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

Suitable arrangements were in place to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. Staff understood how to raise concerns and knew what to do to safeguard the people they supported. Risks to people’s safety were assessed and mitigated to ensure people were kept safe. There were sufficient numbers of competent staff deployed to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing. People received their medicines as they should. People were protected by the prevention and control of infection. Lessons were learned and improvements made when things went wrong.

The service was well-managed, and quality assurance, monitoring and oversight arrangements in place were robust.

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:

• The premises was small and did not feel impersonal, intimidating or instutionalised. People were able to use communal areas as they wished and to have privacy for themselves.

• People were able to access specialist community based healthcare services to ensure their health and wellbeing needs were met.

• People received personalised support and staff knew people very well. Positive behaviour support plans were in place for people who could become distressed and anxious.

• The service had a positive staff culture that was person centred and inclusive.

Right Care:

• There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs, despite minor workforce challenges as a result of COVID-19. Strategies were in place to continue to recruit new staff and fill any staffing shortfalls.

• People were protected from the risk of harm and staff had completed appropriate training.

• People received good person-centred care to meet their care and support needs.

• People were supported to pursue their interests and hobbies and to participate in their local community.

• Where people had individual ways of communicating, staff were aware of these and could effectively engage with each person.

• People were treated with care and kindness. Staff treated people with respect and dignity.

Right Culture:

• The registered manager led by example. Governance arrangements at the service were robust and in place to monitor the quality of the service.

• Staff told us the management team was approachable. Staff stated they were not afraid to speak out or raise issues.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us in August 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.