Ashleigh

Updated 29 September 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This was a comprehensive inspection, carried out by one inspector. The inspection took place on 5 September 2018 and was announced. We gave the service advance notice of the inspection site visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the home providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Prior to the inspection we looked at the information we had about the service. This information included the statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, tells us what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make.

During our inspection we met and spoke with three people living at Ashleigh. We spoke with the registered manager and two members of staff. We contacted one health care professional for feedback. We looked at the care records for three people, including their medicines records. We looked at staff training records and quality assurance systems. We have referred to feedback from people and their relatives given to the provider as part of their quality assurance systems.

Updated 29 September 2018

Ashleigh is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Ashleigh can accommodate up to three people who have an autistic spectrum condition. At the time of our inspection three people were living there. People had their own bedrooms and shared a bathroom. They shared a lounge and dining facilities in the conservatory. Grounds around the property were accessible. The provider operated a day service in a nearby town which people attended.

Ashleigh had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support, Building the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service lived as ordinary a life as any citizen.

This inspection took place on 5th September 2018. At the last comprehensive inspection in October 2015 the service was rated as Good overall. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People’s care and support was highly individualised. They had lived together for a long time and had been supported by the same staff team providing them with consistency and continuity of care. They had positive relationships with staff, who understood them well, anticipating what would make them anxious or uncertain. Strategies were put in place to address any changes to their environment or daily life to help them cope with their responses and reactions to these. Risks were well managed promoting people’s independence. Staff knew how to keep them safe and how to raise safeguarding concerns. There were enough staff to meet their needs. This was kept under review as people’s needs changed.

People made choices about their day to day lives. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were involved in the planning and review of their care and support. They chose the activities they wish to take part in. They said they liked to go swimming, horse riding and to the pub. They went on holidays and took trips to places of interest. They loved wildlife. Their garden had been set up with bird tables and feeders to encourage birds. They went to local arboretums and animal sanctuaries as well as attending a college course at a wildlife centre. People kept in touch with those important to them.

People were supported to stay healthy and well. They helped to plan their weekly menu. They prepared their own drinks and lunches. They liked to go out to a local café and pub. People had access to a range of health care professionals. They had annual health checks. People’s medicines were safely managed. People had access to easy to read information which used pictures and photographs to explain the text. Staff understood how they preferred to communicate encouraging them to express themselves in the way they found most comfortable.

People’s views were sought to monitor the quality of the service provided. They had information about how to raise a complaint. People, their relatives and staff were invited to give feedback through quality assurance surveys. The registered manager and provider completed a range of quality assurance audits to monitor and assess people’s experience of the service. Any actions identified for improvement were monitored to ensure they had been carried out. The registered manager worked closely with local organisations and agencies and national organisations to keep up to date with current best practice and guidance. They were working proactively with a training agency to develop guidance for staff working with people with an autistic spectrum condition who were going through the ageing process. A relative told the provider, “Service users have the best care of any that I have come across.”

Further information is in the detailed findings below.