Walsingham Support - 31 Budge Lane

Updated 4 December 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 inspection took place on 9 October 2018 and was unannounced. This meant the provider did not know we were coming. It was undertaken by one inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications we had received. Notifications are information about important events the provider is required to tell us about by law. We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to share with us some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with one person, two staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We read four people’s care records including their needs assessments, support plans, risk assessments and medicines administration records. We reviewed four people’s care records which included needs and risk assessments, care plans, health information and support plans. We checked three people’s medicines administration records and the medicines storage in their bedrooms. We reviewed six staff files which included pre-employment checks and training records along with supervision and appraisal notes. We read the minutes of four team meetings and checked the provider’s quality assurance records.

Following the inspection, we contacted three health and social care professionals to gather their views about the service people were receiving.

Updated 4 December 2018

This inspection took place on 9 October 2018.

At our last inspection of Walsingham Support - 31 Budge in February 2016, the service was rated 'Good'. At this inspection we found the service continued to be 'Good'.

Walsingham Support - 31 Budge Lane is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and 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.

Walsingham Support - 31 Budge Lane accommodates up to six people with a learning disability in one single-story purpose built building which is wheelchair accessible throughout. The care service 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. There were six people living in the service at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People’s care and support continued to be planned and delivered safely. Staff understood the provider’s safeguarding procedures and their role in keeping people safe. The risks associated with people’s care were assessed and managed to reduce the possibility of them experiencing foreseeable harm. There were enough suitable staff to meet people’s needs and people’s medicines were administered as prescribed. Staff followed appropriate health, hygiene and fire safety practices within the care home.

People had detailed assessments of their needs in place. These had input from health and social care professionals and were regularly reviewed. People’s needs were met by trained and supervised staff whose performances were appraised by the registered manager. People ate well and were supported to do so in line with their assessments. The support people received was compatible with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and they had timely access to healthcare services. The layout of the service and the equipment therein met the needs presented by people’s physical disabilities.

People and staff shared warm relationships that had spanned many years. Staff supported people to maintain friendships and contact with relatives. People’s privacy was maintained and staff promoted people’s independence. Where people chose to, they were supported around their spiritual needs and to participate in the wider activities of church groups.

The service continued to be responsive to people’s changing needs. People had person centred care plans and were supported to engage in a wide range of activities that met their individual needs and preferences. Staff supported people in line with their communication needs. A complaints process was available to people in pictorial and easy to read formats and they had access to advocacy services when required.

Walsingham Support -31 Budge Lane continued to be a well-run service. Staff felt supported in their roles and enjoyed their work. Management structures and arrangements were clear and the role modelling of good practice was promoted. The registered manager audited the quality of the service being delivered and worked closely with partner agencies to achieve positive outcomes for people.