Alison House

Updated 4 January 2024

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Alison House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under 1 contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced and inspection activity started on 3 December 2023 and ended on 27 December 2023. The inspection visit took place on 4 December 2023 and was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

All except 1 person using the service had limited use of words to communicate verbally and did not comment on the service. We spoke on the telephone with the registered manager, and in person with other managers, directors, and 1 person using the service. We contacted 5 relatives, 3 staff, and 4 healthcare professionals to get their experience and views about the care provided. We reviewed a range of records. They included 3 people’s care plans and risk records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment, training, and staff supervision. We checked a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including staff rotas, safeguarding, and service level audits. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection visit. This included staffing and training information, and provider quality assurance audits. We received the information which was used as part of our inspection.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 4 January 2024

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

About the service

Alison House is a ‘care home’ that provides respite care and support for up to 5 people. All the people who live at Alison House have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. There were 4 people living at the home during the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People were received a service that was safe for them to live and staff to work in. Regular reviews of the quality of the service took place, and improvements were made to ensure people’s care and support needs were met. This was in a way that best suited them. There were well-established working partnerships that promoted people’s participation and reduced their danger of social isolation. 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.

Right Care

There were appropriately recruited, and trained staff, in sufficient numbers to support people to live safely, whilst enjoying their lives. Risks to people using the service and staff were identified, assessed, monitored, and reviewed. Complaints, concerns, accidents, incidents, and safeguarding issues were appropriately reported, investigated, and recorded. Trained staff safely administered people’s medicines.

Right culture

The provider had a culture that was positive, open, and honest with a leadership and management that was clearly identifiable and transparent. Staff understood the provider’s vision and values and followed them. They were aware of their responsibilities, accountability, and happy to take responsibility and report any concerns that might arise.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 7 March 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to check whether the service was continuing to provide a good, rated service for people.

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 remains Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We did not inspect the key questions of effective, caring, and responsive.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Alison House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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