Archived: Glasshouse College

Updated 16 January 2020

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Glasshouse College is a specialist residential college. The service is registered to provide accommodation care and support for up to 20 people living in small 'team houses'. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service is also registered to provide personal care to young people living with shared lives carers. With this type of service people's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate the premises used for supported living; however, we looked at people's personal care and support. The educational provision at the college is regulated by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

The service had a manager who was registered with the CQC. The registered manager and the provider were legally responsible for how the service was run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the provider 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit. This was because we needed to make sure staff would be at the office to answer our questions and provide the information we required to carry out our inspection.

What we did before the inspection

The provider had been asked to complete a new Provider Information Return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four support staff, the registered manager, an external social care professional, a new manager, the head of safeguarding, the college principle, and two staff from the human resources department. We reviewed a range of records. These included, health action plans, communication care plans support plans, daily notes and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, and a variety of records about the management of the service including policies and procedures. We looked at the premises of two community houses which included three people’s bedrooms.

Updated 16 January 2020

About the service Glasshouse College is a specialist residential college. Glasshouse college provides accommodation and personal care to people between the ages of 16 and 25 years. People who use the service had a learning and/or behavioural difficulties. There were 15 people using this service at the time of our inspection. Additionally, five people were living in share lives placements. This service is where people, who also had a learning and/or behavioural difficulty, were supported to live in their own homes as independently as possible through engaging in the process of Practical Skills Therapeutic Education.

Overall, the service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and coordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

Risk assessments had been undertaken to keep people safe whilst still enabling them to retain their independence. A dedicated safeguarding team, safeguarding policies and staff safeguarding training prevented people experiencing unavoidable harm. The registered manager had an on-going recruitment drive to ensure staffing levels could be maintained. Recruitment processes ensured staff were safe to work with people. Medicines were managed safely. People took, or were administered their medicines as they had been prescribed. Accidents and incidents had been analysed and where required changes had been made to practice, to try to prevent future occurrences. The premises were visibly clean. Action had been taken to promote good hygiene standards.

Staff Induction training ensured new staff were equipped with the knowledge they needed to carry out their job role. Staff confirmed their mandatory training was adequate and up-to-date.

Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) were followed. Consent was requested before staff delivered care and support. The needs and goals of each person was of paramount importance to the provider, registered manager and staff. The service vision focused on person-centred support, the promotion of life skills to aid independence, and the enablement of people to attain their individual educational goals and/or work experience. Staff were aware of people’s individual medical needs. Where possible people shopped for food and prepared their own meals.

People and relatives told us staff were polite, kind and promoted their dignity, privacy and independence. The atmosphere of the service was friendly and enabling. People were supported to make decisions about their daily lives and future goals. The provider encouraged people to have contact with their family and friends.

People and their relatives were involved in their and their family member’s assessments and reviews to ensure all needs were determined and addressed. People and relatives told us they would feel comfortable to raise any complaints they had with the staff or registered manager. People participated in a range of educational courses and leisure time activities.

People and relatives told us the service was well-led. They told us the management team were available and approachable. Provider feedback processes had been used to gather information about the views of people and relatives about the service provision. The registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities to provide us (CQC) with notifications about important events and incidents that occurred whilst the service was delivering care.

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 04 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.