Northumberland Road

Updated 16 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection Team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Northumberland Road is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. 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.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced. We provided the registered manager with 48 hours notice of our inspection. This was to ensure that there would be people and staff who we could speak to.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection:

Prior to the inspection, we looked at the information we held about the service and used this to help us plan our inspection. We looked at notifications that we had received about events that had happened at the service, which the provider is required to send to us by law. These included notifications about deaths, serious injuries, whistle blowing and safeguarding’s. We also considered the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we ask the provider to send to us at least annually to give us key information about the service such as what it does well and any improvements they plan to make. Through our conversations with the management and staff we gave them an opportunity to tell us and show us how what they described to us translated into everyday practice.

During our visit, we spoke with two people who used the service and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. For example, we looked at two people's care records, multiple medication records and examples of related healthcare records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the home. These included staff training and people’s feedback.

Following our visit, we spoke to a member of care staff by telephone to gain their views.

Updated 16 July 2019

About the service: Northumberland Road is registered to provide accommodation with personal care for up to four people with learning disabilities or autism. There were four people living at the home at the time of our visit.

Prior to January 2015, Northumberland Road was part of a 'shared lives' scheme. These are designed to support adults with a range of needs who are unable to live on their own. The scheme matches a person with care needs, with a carer who provides care and support to them and shares their family home and community life with the person. The provider had to change their registration because they wished to support four people. Once more than three people are supported in one location, the location operates as a care home. However, the provider's ethos continued to be that they supported people as part of their family. The home was run by the registered manager and they employed one member of care staff part time.

People’s experience of using this service:

Northumberland Road has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin 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 can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People told us that they were happy living at Northumberland Road and were supported by the registered manager and the staff member, who were kind, caring and supportive. Risk assessments managed risks within people’s lives and the registered manager and staff member knew how to keep people safe from those risks.

People’s dietary needs, preferences and nutritional needs were assessed and known by the registered manager and staff member and when needed. People were referred to other professionals to support their healthcare needs. People received their medicines safely.

The registered manager and staff member had training in relevant subjects and they knew their roles and responsibilities, such as safeguarding people from poor practice.

People continued to have 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.

The registered manager and staff member, knew people well and supported people in line with their care plan. Care plan records were reviewed regularly and were person centred.

People pursued opportunities to engage in activities and interests of their choice and were supported to be as independent as they wanted to be.

The registered manager completed quality assurance checks, and these had been reviewed by the local authority who had no recommendations.

We found the service met the characteristics of a “Good” rating in five areas. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection: Good. (The last report for Northumberland Road was published on 20 December 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The previous ‘good’ service provided to people continued. The overall rating continues to be Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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