- Care home
Boldshaves Oast
Report from 8 May 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
We undertook this assessment of Boldshaves Oast between 20 May and 3 June 2024. Boldshaves Oast is a residential care home providing accommodation for up to 15 autistic people or people with a learning disability. At the time of our assessment there were 13 people living at the service with varied support needs. An assessment has been undertaken of a specialist service that is used by autistic people or people with a learning disability. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability 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 assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. During this assessment we looked at how people were kept safe from potential risks to their safety; how staff were trained and supervised to support people according to their needs and preferences; and the overall management of the service. We spoke with 6 people and 8 relatives. Some people had limited verbal communication so we used a symbol-based communication tool and observed care by sharing lunch and spending time with people. We spoke with 5 staff and joined the senior staff team and regional manager in a senior staff meeting. We did not identify any breaches of regulation during this assessment but identified areas of improvement in record keeping and quality assurance. Following the assessment, the service has received an overall rating of Good.
People's experience of this service
People and their relatives were mostly positive about their care and support. People felt safe living at Boldshaves Oast. A relative told us, “I think it's the whole package that gives me that assurance. There is a real culture of care and safety.” People were encouraged to take positive risks and take part in a wide variety of activities including employment and holidays. One person described specific staff affectionately as, “Very special”. Relatives described the staff as ‘friendly’ ‘helpful’ and ‘caring’ but a minority of relatives felt some staff did not have the right skills to care for their family member. Staff knew people well, treated them with dignity and respect and helped promote their independence.