Archived: Strode Park Foundation - Redwalls

Strode Park Foundation - Redwalls is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 6 people. The service provides support to younger people with a learning disability, who maybe autistic with a physical disability and a sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service. People were cared for in one adapted building.

People’s experience of using this 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 assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

People were 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. A person told us their support was “personalised to my choices”. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision making.

Right Care:

A person described their care as, “fantastic”. Staff understood and responded to people’s individual needs. People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. However, guidance had not been provided to staff about some complex areas of people’s care and there was a risk people would not consistently receive the care they needed to remain well. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture:

People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths and needs people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. However, staff had not received training in some complex tasks to ensure these were done in a safe and effective way. Checks the provider had carried out on the service had not identified the shortfalls we found at this inspection and this left people at risk of harm.

Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. The service enabled people and those important to them to worked with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views.

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 2 November 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to a safeguarding incident. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Strode Park Foundation - Redwalls on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to staff training and competence in some areas of complex care, the effectiveness of some checks and audits, guidance for staff around the actions required to support people to remain safe and well and notifying us of important events that happen at the service at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

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

Redwalls is a ‘care home’. 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.

Redwalls is part of the Strode Park Foundation which is an independent voluntary organisation and registered charity. Redwalls is situated in a rural environment and is located in the village of Stodmarsh, close to Canterbury. The service has six bedrooms, is wheelchair accessible, and supports six young adults with physical and learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection there were six people living at the service.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering 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.

At our last inspection on 28 October 2015 we rated the service ‘Good’. At this inspection on 6 September 2018 we found the evidence continued to support the rating of ‘Good’ and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People told us that they felt safe living at the service. People were comfortable in the company of staff, with other people and in the environment. Staff understood the importance of keeping people safe.

The provider took appropriate action to manage accidents and safeguarding incidents. Staff members knew how to report any suspected abuse.

Staff were recruited safely and medicines were stored and administered in a timely manner.

People were supported to have maximum 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.

People's needs were assessed before moving to the service and staff had the right skills and training to support people. People were encouraged to eat healthy and balanced diets.

People were treated with dignity and respect by staff who were compassionate and caring. Staff treated people's private information confidentially. People were able to make decisions about how their care was provided, and were involved in reviews along with family members.

People received care that was personalised to their individual preferences. Staff knew people's needs and personalities well.

When people or their families had complaints or concerns they were encouraged to raise them. Management saw complaints as an opportunity to improve the service.

The registered provider, Strode Park Foundation, had a set of core values and the registered manager aligned those values with this service. The registered manager made sure these values were embedded into the culture of the service.

The registered manager had submitted notifications to CQC in an appropriate and timely manner in line with CQC guidelines.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

There were six people using the service at the time of our inspection. We observed to see how people reacted and responded to see if people indicated they were happy, bored, discontented, angry or sad. People said that they were happy at Redwalls. One person said, 'I couldn't ask for more'.

We saw that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. One person commented, "I have personal care so we have to know each other well. I choose what to wear. Staff help me when I need it".

The provider had provided an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained. The home was clean and free from offensive odours.

People were cared for by qualified and experienced staff and there were enough staff to meet people's needs.

Systems were in place to monitor the service that people received to ensure that the service was satisfactory and safe.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. This was because the people had complex needs which meant they were not all able to tell us their experiences.

We spoke with some people and also observed the interactions between the people and the staff. We observed how people responded and reacted with the staff and we observed to see if people indicated they were happy, bored, discontented, angry or sad.

People told us or expressed that they felt safe, happy, and well looked after. We saw staff engaging with people in a caring, sensitive and positive manner. One person told us, 'I have been really well supported living here. I eventually want to move into the community'.

People's health needs were supported and the service worked with health professionals to maintain and improve people's health and well being.

The staff we spoke to understood each person's individual needs and how they liked to be supported. One person said, 'I like my room. It's a decent sized room and I have been able to personalise it'.

Staff told us that they felt supported in their roles and had regular meetings and individual supervision.

We saw evidence that there were quality assurance processes in place.