Yealand Drive (Adult Care Home)

Updated 12 August 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Yealand Drive (Adult Care Home), (Yealand Drive), is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Yealand Drive is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 30 June 2023 and ended on 9 July 2023. We visited the service on 30 June 2023. We arranged to return to the service on 9 July 2023 to speak to the registered manager and to look at additional records.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who lived in the home who could share their views with us. We observed how staff interacted with people. We also spoke with the registered manager and 3 members of the care team. We looked around the accommodation.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at records relating to the safety and management of the service.

Updated 12 August 2023

About the service

Yealand Drive (Adult Care Home) is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 5 adults who have a learning disability. The home is in a residential area of Ulverston in south Cumbria. People have their own bedrooms which are on the ground and first floors of the home. There are suitable shared facilities including toilets and bathrooms, a large sitting room, dining room and kitchen. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people living in the home.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

People had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life because staff focused on their strengths and promoted what they could do. People were supported to gain skills and independence. Where appropriate, people were supported to move to live with greater independence in the community.

People were supported by staff to pursue their interests in the home and in the community. People told us they enjoyed a variety of activities in the local community. One person told us they had enjoyed a visit to the cinema to watch a film of their choice. People also told us about concerts they had enjoyed. Activities were tailored around people’s choices and preferences.

Staff supported people to identify and achieve their aspirations and goals. People were active members of their community and staff valued people’s achievements.

People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. People told us they had been included in choosing the décor for communal areas of the home. People lived in a safe, clean, and well-furnished environment that met their sensory and physical needs.

Staff supported people to access routine and specialist health care services to ensure their health and wellbeing. People were supported with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcomes.

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. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care from staff who knew them well. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs.

People were safe and protected from abuse. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and to keep them safe. People liked the staff who supported them. People enjoyed laughing and joking with the staff on duty.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds and gestures could interact comfortably with staff because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and abilities. They gave clear guidance for staff on how to support individuals. This promoted people’s wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right culture:

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs.

Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. They knew people well and were responsive, supporting them to live a quality life of their choosing.

People and those important to them were involved in planning their care. Staff knew how to give people choices about their lives and support and respected the decisions they made.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 13 January 2018).

Why we inspected

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

The rating for the service had not been reviewed since our last rated inspection in November 2017. We undertook a focused inspection to seek assurance people continued to receive safe, high-quality care. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

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.