Yew Tree

Yew Tree is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care. Yew Tree is registered for up to 2 people; however, the home is set up to meet the needs of 1 person. The service provides support to a person with complex needs who has a learning disability and autism.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: Yew Tree is located in a rural location, within easy reach of local shops and amenities. There were enough staff to meet the person’s care and support needs and support them to take part in activities of their choice. Staff were safely recruited and completed the training required to carry out their roles.

The person was supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff knew how people communicated their needs and choices.

Right Care: The person’s support needs were assessed and regularly reviewed. Person-centred care records identified people’s preferences, support needs and potential risks. Guidance was provided to manage these risks. A specialist in positive behaviour support supported the staff team to understand the person’s behaviours and agree strategies to reduce their anxieties.

People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing. People received their medicines as prescribed. The home had been adapted to better meet the needs of the person, as staff now did not have to go through their living space when accessing other parts of the home.

Relatives were positive about the care and support provided and said the staff team were extremely dedicated to the person’s support and wellbeing. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs.

Right Culture: Relatives were involved in agreeing and reviewing the person’s care. Relatives said there was good communication with the home. An advocate supported the person and was able to advocate on their behalf. Staff enjoyed working at Yew Tree and felt listened to by the registered manager. A quality assurance system was in place. Actions were completed where any issues had been identified.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good published 11 November 2017.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The service had a registered manager. 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service used the local authority safeguarding procedures to report any safeguarding concerns. Staff had been trained in safeguarding topics and were aware of their responsibilities to report any possible abuse.

Recruitment procedures were robust and ensured new staff should be safe to work with vulnerable adults.

There were sufficient staff to meet the person’s needs.

The administration of medicines was safe. Staff had been trained in the administration of medicines and had up to date policies and procedures to follow.

The home was clean, tidy and contained no offensive odours. The environment was maintained at a good level and homely in character. There was good outside space for people to utilise in good weather.

There were systems in place to prevent the spread of infection. Staff were trained in infection control. This helped to protect the health and welfare of staff and people who used the service.

Electrical and gas appliances were serviced regularly. Each person had a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) and there was a business plan for any unforeseen emergencies.

The person who used the service was able to choose the meals they wanted daily. This person responded best to set plans although staff were flexible.

Most staff had been trained in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager was aware of her responsibilities of how to apply for any best interest decisions under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and followed the correct procedures using independent professionals.

New staff received induction training to provide them with the skills to care for people. Staff files and the training matrix showed staff had undertaken sufficient training to meet the needs of people and they were supervised regularly to check their competence. Supervision sessions also gave staff the opportunity to discuss their work and ask for any training they felt necessary.

We observed there were good interactions between staff and the person who used the service.

We saw from our observations of staff and records that the person who used the service was given choices in many aspects of their lives and helped to remain independent where possible.

We saw that the quality of care plans gave staff sufficient information to look after the person accommodated at the care home and reviewed when required. Plans of care contained people’s personal preferences so they could be treated as individuals.

There were many activities the person had access to help live a fulfilling life. The person chose what activities they wanted to do.

There was good communication between the person who used the service and their family.