26a Sussex Avenue

Updated 1 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

26a Sussex Avenue is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave 24 hours’ notice of this inspection as the service is small and people and staff are often out, we wanted to be sure that they were in.

What we did:

Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We looked at notifications about important events that had taken place in the service which the provider is required to tell us by law. We used this information to help us plan our inspection.

Most people did not verbally communicate their experiences of living at the service during the inspection. We observed the interaction between people and staff in the communal areas and some people gave us non-verbal feedback using facial expressions and gestures. We spoke with two people’s relatives.

We looked at two people's support plans and the recruitment records of two staff employed at the service. We viewed, medicines management, complaints logs, meetings minutes, health and safety assessments, accidents and incidents logs. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and three support workers. We received feedback from relevant health and social care professionals on their experience of the service.

At the inspection we asked the registered manager to send us some further information about the support plan for one person and the training matrix. This information was received in a timely manner.

Updated 1 June 2019

About the service:

26a Sussex Avenue is a residential care home that was providing care and accommodation to 5 people with complex needs including physical disabilities, learning disabilities and/or autism at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support 10 people. However, the building had recently been re-modelled in to two bungalows with three bedrooms each and the provider had applied to reduce the maximum occupancy to six people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

People’s experience of using this service:

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways, independence was promoted; people were supported to make choices and people were encouraged and supported to access the local community.

Feedback relatives was very positive about the care people received and people were happy living at the service. One relative said, “There is nothing that I would change about the service, I am overjoyed about the support they receive.” People’s privacy and dignity was respected, and staff were kind and caring. People were supported and encouraged to develop their daily living such as cooking, cleaning and greeting visitors to their home.

People were safe living at the service. Risks to people from health conditions and the environment were well managed. Medicines were administered well, and people received their medicines on time and as prescribed.

The support people received was effective and met their needs. People’s needs were assessed, and support plans were updated when appropriate. People were supported to go shopping, make meals and eat and drink safely. People were encouraged to maintain their health and exercise. When people were unwell their health was monitored, and they had access healthcare services when this was needed.

The building was designed and adapted to meet people’s needs and promote independence. The kitchen had been adapted to enable people to access the counters and the sink independently. There were push buttons so that people in wheel chairs could open the doors to their bedrooms and the fire system had both an audible and visual alarm.

There were enough staff to support people and staff were recruited safely. Staff were appropriately managed and supported and had the skills and training the needed.

There was an open and transparent culture at the service. People and their relatives were engaged and involved in planned developments at the service. Staff told us that they enjoyed working there and that they were well supported. Regular checks on the quality of the service was undertaken and lessons were learnt and shared when things went wrong.

Rating at last inspection:

This is the first inspection of this service.

Why we inspected:

This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on when the service registered.

Follow up:

We will visit the service again in the future to check if there are changes to the quality of the service.