Heatherington House

Updated 7 March 2019

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 28 November 2018 and was unannounced. It was completed by one inspector.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.

We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification provides information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We also contacted health and social care commissioners who place and monitor the care of people living in the home, and Healthwatch England, the national consumer champion in health and social care to identify if they had any information which may support our inspection.

During our inspection, we spoke with five people who lived at the home and four members of care staff. We spoke with the deputy manager and registered manager. We also received feedback from two local authority commissioners. We reviewed care plan information relating to one person and one staff file. We also looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, training information, medicines information, and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 7 March 2019

This inspection took place on 28 November 2018 and was unannounced. At the last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and we rated the service Outstanding.

Heatherington House is a ‘care home’ specialising in supporting people with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and learning disabilities. 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. PWS is a condition where people have a chronic feeling of hunger that can lead to excessive eating and sometimes life-threatening illnesses.

The home was a spacious three-story building located near to a small town centre which people could access as they wished.

The care service had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance, with the exception that the home accommodated more than six people. 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 and the staff within this service were exceptional in ensuring this was the case for people living at this home.

There was 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.

Without exception, people were supported to achieve their goals. The staff and management team were creative, committed and determined to support people to live independent lives and challenge the barriers around supporting people with PWS.

People were supported to complete major achievements, relevant to each person’s individual wishes. People were supported to manage their weight and food choices with sensible decision making and this had seen huge benefits to people’s health and wellbeing. People were educated about food choices and activity levels and had lots of control and opportunities to be around vast quantities of food.

People had developed strong links with local leisure facilities and other amenities in the community which further helped enable people’s independence and manage their vulnerabilities. People were proud of the progress they had made at Heatherington House and valued the experiences and progress they had made.

People had seen huge benefits to their health and activity levels. People had made significant progress and they, and the staff, were immensely proud of what they had accomplished. People had better lives and were supported to try a variety of new experiences.

People were fully involved in ensuring the home they lived in was safe, taking responsibility for key elements of the running of the home. Staff supported people to learn about safety issues, such as fire risks and how this could be managed safely if unexpected events occurred.

People were encouraged and supported to take risks and grow in confidence and their abilities to manage situations independently. The staff prepared and educated people so they could be as independent as possible for each person whilst out in the community.

People were involved in staffing decisions and of the recruitment of new staff. Staff skills were considered alongside the people that lived at the home to bring out the best in people and encourage them to try new things and take greater responsibility wherever possible.

The registered manager challenged stigma and stereotypes and ensured that people with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) were not disadvantaged or treated differently because of their condition. Staff followed the lead of the registered manager and ensured that people were challenged to achieve what they wanted.

Staff consistently went the extra mile for people to ensure they received all the support they required, when they needed it. People living at the home valued their relationships with staff and the commitment they provided, and this benefitted people immensely.