Background to this inspection
Updated
4 April 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type:
89 Hastings Avenue is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
What we did:
Before visiting the service, we looked at previous inspection reports and information sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) through notifications. Notifications are information we receive when a significant event happens, like a death or a serious injury.
We also looked at information sent to us by the manager through the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR contains information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We reviewed one person's care plan. We also looked at a variety of different sources of information relating to these people, such as; risk assessments, learning logs, activity logs, communication books. In addition, we looked at; surveys, staff rotas, training records, recruitment files, medicine administration records, audits and incident/accident logs. We asked the deputy manager to send us some documentation via email after the inspection. These were received on the days following the inspection.
On inspection, we spoke with one person and observed interaction between staff, the deputy manager and people. We also spoke with the deputy manager, the operations manager, three members of staff, three relatives and three professionals.
Updated
4 April 2019
About the service:
89 Hastings Avenue is a small residential care home for people with a range of sensory, physical and learning needs. The service was providing personal care and support to four people at the time of the inspection. The home has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the 'Registering 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 can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. These values were seen in practice at the home. For example, staff did not wear uniforms and people lived their lives in the ways they wanted.
What life is like for people using the service:
¿ Since the last inspection in July 2016, the home has made several improvements and now meets the characteristics of outstanding in all areas and overall.
¿ By talking to people, observing interactions and looking through pictures, it was clear that people were living happy and fulfilling lives at the service. They had great relationships with staff who knew them intently and had a genuine passion for providing people with the best opportunities in life.
¿ Relatives commented; "They deserve an outstanding rating, as a parent as a professional. It is an amazing, amazing place," "They really are outstanding in my eyes. They are brilliant. [Our loved one] is definitely in the best place."
¿ Staff shared a common vision for the service and for the people it supported; to enable them to live as independently as possible. We saw that staff were dedicated to improving people's communication, mobility and confidence and the care and support that was provided to people were guided by peoples' own aims and goals.
¿ People were challenged and encouraged to achieve their goals and there had been remarkably positive and consistent outcomes for people. One person had lost significant amounts of weight through healthy eating and exercise and was enjoying a range of activities they could not enjoy before; including swimming and a range of sports at a local sports club. Another had been supported to significantly develop their communication by increasing their signing skills and vocabulary. They were now able to communicate their choices and decisions using their own and recognised British language signs. One person who at one point was a wheelchair user, decided they want to go on the bus more and to become more mobile. Staff worked with the person and we saw that they regularly travelled on public transport to go to the gym. The person showed us their exercises that they did each day with staff and physiotherapists told us how impressed they were with the person's progress.
¿ Staff worked closely with people, health professionals and families to reduce the use of 'mood stabilising' psychotropic medicines and had introduced innovative methods tailored to people to reduce their anxiety. Staff and relatives told us that the new method had been working well and the person was now on half the dosage, with a continued reduction planned.
¿ People had developed friendships with one another and with people they had met at different clubs and groups locally. Relatives told us that their loved ones used to feel isolated, but now they had lots of friends and determined what they wanted to do each day and with whom.
¿ People chose who they wanted to support them, by taking part in interviewing new members of staff and staff used a matching tool, that matched potential new staff with people by shared interests and personalities.
More information is in Detailed Findings below.
Rating at last inspection:
Good overall and in all domains except caring, which was rated as outstanding (report published 28 July 2016).
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We found improvements had been made since our last inspection and the service has met the characteristics outstanding in all areas. The overall rating is Outstanding.