We carried out a review of the data available to us about Stewart Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Stewart Court, you can give feedback on this service.
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.
About the service
Stewart Court is a residential care home providing personal care to six people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 10 people. Although it is a care home, people live in their own self-contained flats and receive intensive support from staff.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support:
Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Staff worked with people about how they received support and encouraged them to make decisions and develop their skills and independence. People were supported to take part in activities and pursue their interests.
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. The staff team learned from incidents to avoid or reduce them in the future.
The service provided support in a safe and clean environment that met people’s needs. People could make choices and personalise their living space. When necessary, significant adaptations were made to ensure the environment was safe and suitable for people.
People were supported to access specialist health and social care support in the community and were encouraged to be involved as far as possible. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best health outcome.
Right Care:
People received kind and compassionate care. Staff understood people’s individual needs and provided culturally appropriate support. People’s support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People were given opportunities to try new activities and experiences.
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.
Some people communicated without using words. They could interact with staff and other people who supported them because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.
Right Culture:
People were empowered by the values, attitudes and behaviours of the managers and staff. There was a culture of respect ongoing improvement, and staff were positive about working at the service.
People received good quality support which was tailored to their needs because staff understood individual’s strengths, needs and sensitivities. Staff placed the people they supported at the heart of everything they did.
Staff knew people well. This meant people received consistent care from staff who knew their needs and abilities. People were encouraged to share their views and develop and improve the service. The quality of support provided was evaluated regularly.
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 January 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We only reviewed the safe and well led key questions at this inspection. 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 remains good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stewart Court 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.
Stewart Court provides accommodation and personal care for up to 10 people. At the time of our visit there were four people living at the home.
At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager registered with the CQC however there were no longer in post and had left the organisation. There was a new manager in place but did not wish to become the registered manager. The home was advertising to recruit a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the home. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the home is run.
The manager and staff understood their role and responsibilities to protect people from harm. Staff had received training in how to protect people from abuse. The risks to people had been assessed, recorded and plans implemented to manage these.
People were provided with safe care by adequate numbers of appropriately skilled staff being made available. Staff recruitment procedures were safe and the employment files contained all the relevant information to help ensure only the appropriate people were employed to work at the home.
Medicines were handled appropriately and stored securely. Medicine Administration Records (MAR) were signed to indicate people's prescribed medicine had been given.
The home was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff had received appropriate training, and had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Records showed appropriate mental capacity assessments had been carried out.
Staff received induction and training. A training programme was in place and staff had been encouraged to complete all mandatory refresher training. Staff had supervision meetings and team meetings were held to support them in their role.
People had their nutritional needs assessed and monitored and were supported to enjoy a range of food and drink of their choice.
People said they were treated in a kind and caring manner. People were able to make choices about the way they were cared for.
People were supported to access health care professionals and health care services when needed.
Activities were personalised for each person. People made suggestions about activities they wanted to participate in each day. People were offered the choice if they wanted to go out with staff daily.
People were actively encouraged to provide feedback. Complaints were investigated and action taken to address concerns when needed.