Caradon

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Appropriate staffing enabled people to be supported in the way they wanted to be supported. People had only recently moved into the service, and some had found this transition easier than others, social activities were being introduced based on people’s preferences and from feedback from parents. There had been a serious safeguarding incident and we were able to see that the provider had proactively worked with other external agencies to ensure lessons were learnt. Staff were given confidence and knowledge to support people effectively, and people were kept safe. During our site visit on 15 May 2024, completed a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI), and saw people smiling and interacting well with staff in a relaxed environment and joining in activities within the home. One person was identified as using sign language, but a staff member told us they had not had specific training sign language training. Staff did appear to know people well and were observed laughing with people. The service had clear and accessible information around the service which could be used to help people know what was happening across the day such as picture cards and now and next boards.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Appropriate staffing enabled people to be supported in the way they wanted to be supported. Routines were flexible with everyone needing support with personal care, meal preparation and assistance with daily living. Individual timetables meant people could choose activities they wanted to do, and floating staff support meant there was flexibility within the service. People had only recently moved into the service, and some had found this transition easier than others, social activities were being introduced based on people’s preferences and from feedback from parents. There had been a number of incidents in the community which had meant scaling back activities and revisiting what was appropriate to peoples needs. The staff worked closely with parents and other health care professionals to get advice in particular around people’s sensory needs.

Staff spoken with demonstrated a good ethos and a willingness to support people and help them engage in different activities and wanted people to progress. Staff told us about the different things they had tried with people and were aware of their needs. Staff referred to peoples sensory and communication needs and were mindful that people had varying processing speeds. Different methods were used to communicate with people and there was involvement with speech and language teams and other professionals. One person was identified as using sign language, but a staff member told us they had not had specific training sign language training. Staff were using widget symbols and pictures to aid communication. Staff did appear to know people well and were observed laughing with people.

Our observations were positive with people supported in line with their needs and in a timely way. People appeared relaxed and maintaining a good level of communication with staff supporting them through nonverbal cues. Throughout the day staff supported people to go out and engage in different activities and support people with their personal care. The service had an electronic care planning system and people’s needs were clearly documented and reviewed in line with peoples needs and risks. Care planning was holistic with the involvement of family and other professionals. People were consulted about their care particularly in relation to how they wanted to spend their time and who with. Staff then facilitated this which included trips to visit parents.

People had limited experiences within the community in line with their preferences. One person had an established college place, another was being supported to look for volunteering opportunity. People had lived previously with family members, and this was their first experience of living in a group setting. Whilst people were adapting some had found it difficult getting used to living with other people. As the home was situated in a rural community there was little in the way of local resources, but people were supported to travel further afield to the near by town and Norwich and the coast. A daily well being walk was being embedded.

Care was assessed and planned for, and staff told us how people were supported to move in gradually and start to establish relationships with people. Staff were able to access training and prepare for people moving in. Staff were accessing local resources and had received some contact from local relatives who had been anxious about new neighbours moving in, but this had been dealt with in an open and transparent manner. Staff reported good access to the local GP and other health and social services that people needed.

We got positive feedback from external professionals on how the service was supporting people. One person told us "On all occasions I visited, I found the home and staff teams to be very engaging and open to any recommendations given. All cohorts of staff engaged with showed a passion for working with those with Learning Disabilities and ensuring they had a fulfilling and engaging life, with residents working towards or achieving their desired goals. The service has worked hard to create a very “homely” feel and residents were observed to be looking happy and content".

There were processes in place to ensure people could safety access the community, including risk assessments and lessons learnt should an incident occur. As part of an ongoing assessment staff would carefully plan out an activity and ensure they had put everything in place they needed to include the right level of staffing and considered external factor like excessive noise which might be difficult for people to manage due to their autism and sensory processing issues. Whilst staff were keen to open up experiences, they were also mindful that people took time to embrace new experiences and as such were taking things step by step. The deputy manager said about developing a quality-of-life tool to measure people’s experiences in a qualitative way.

The service had clear and accessible information around the service which could be used to help people know what was happening across the day such as picture cards and now and next boards. A photo board of staff showed the allocations, who was supporting who and what the choice of activity was. People were supported regularly to discuss their care and share their ideas about what they might want to do.

The manager was proud that their records system was completely digital although paper copies were available as needed. The portal was accessible, and people had their own phones and could access data should they wish and share photographs to share point which provided evidence of what they had been doing. There was a parent portal where relatives could have access to information depending on permissions and issues around consent.

Easy read and accessible information was available to take into account peoples needs and legislation around The Data Protection Act 2018 and meeting accessible communication standards, 2016. The Manager had implemented a dated “you said, we did” board. This showed how the service was acting on feedback from people, families and other professionals. The service had also embedded its champion roles, with management advising staff receiving specific champion role training and support.

People’s profiles indicated how to support people and their preferences. Staff were still building relationships with people and getting to know them. We found staff were supporting people appropriately and giving people options and time to respond. People were not able to tell us directly about their experiences, but staff used appropriate communication methods for them and people were smiling and appeared comfortable with staff. The culture was staff supporting people to do things for themselves rather than staff doing everything for the person.

Staff had training in equality and diversity, person centred care and autism. Staff told us they understood people and where something didn’t work, they would try something else. Staff told us they discussed with people what they wanted on the shared menu and gave peoples choices across the day, which we observed at lunch time. People were supported to shop and contribute as much as they wanted to in line with their preferred routines. Staff told us people needed assistance with personal care, but people had preferences as to when they wanted to shower or any other activity, and this was respected by staff.

Staff engaged well and were supervised which included direct observations of practice, supervisions, and appraisal as well as team meetings and training. Staff were able to contribute their ideas and influence service delivery. People using the service were involved on a daily basis and care records evaluated. Staff learnt from incidents and there were opportunity for reflection and development.

People were able to access a wide range of services, and had the right staffing to ensure that no appointments were missed. Where there had been instances where a person could not attend an appointment, these had been rearranged. People accessed the community and had individualised activity plans.

Staff felt confident supporting people to access their activities. We observed staff planing activities with people. Staff we spoke to said they felt confident supporting people within the community. Staff were excited that the service would soon be receiving two new vehicles, which would increase the scope of activities and services people would be able to access.

We received feedback that the service ensured people attended their appointments. The named GP spoke to staff on a weekly basis for a review of people's health needs. The service was working with the Quality Monitoring Officer from the Local Authority to drive improvements.

There were processes in place to ensure people could safety access the community, including risk assessments and lessons learnt should an incident occur. As part of an ongoing assessment staff would carefully plan out an activity and ensure they had put everything in place they needed to include the right level of staffing and considered external factor like excessive noise which might be difficult for people to manage due to their autism and sensory processing issues. There was also planning to ensure people made it to their health appointments.

People had the right level of staffing, and had been supported through a challenging transition into Caradon. We saw people were not discriminated against, and allowed to express themselves, however they chose.

Staff told us that people had come a long way from moving in and learning to cohabit with other people. Staff praised the team spirit and the support from the management team, which help them to support people effectively. Staff were aware of peoples differences and ensured support offered was tailored to their needs.

Rotas and staff allocation boards were in place showing how people got their shared and individual hours. The management team made sure that commissioned hours were being delivered.

People had only just moved in, and the service was being adjusted in line with their needs. Families were involved and we saw evidence of family feedback. The manager acknowledged that people's families would be integral to any future planning.

The manager had acquired another house with plans to support someone to develop their independence skills and have their own staffing whilst still benefiting from support from the main house.

Care plans took into account peoples wishes and aspirations for the future.