The Goddards

The Goddards is a residential care home providing personal care to 14 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum condition.

The service has been developed 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 co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 14 people. This is larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area. The location of the service was near other homes and facilities locally and staff were discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

People were supported by a consistent and caring staff team, but not all staff had completed recent refresher training to ensure their skills and knowledge were kept up to date. Aspects of record-keeping required improvement to make sure people’s needs were effectively monitored. Improvements had been made to the quality assurance system but some issues identified in audits had not been fully resolved. Policies were being reviewed and updated.

People liked living at The Goddards and confirmed they felt safe and comfortable. Staff were aware of risks to people’s safety and wellbeing. Checks of the environment were conducted and the manager had taken action to improve environmental safety, including fire safety measures. Staff were aware to report any safeguarding concerns. People were supported with their health needs and had regular health checks.

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 service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. People’s independence was promoted; they were involved cooking and household tasks. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were supported to access a range of activities and maintain relationships with friends and family members.

People and staff spoke positively about the management of the service. Staff told us there was good team work and a positive, person-centred culture.

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 requires improvement (published 25 July 2018). Since this rating was awarded the provider has altered its legal entity. They registered with the Care Quality Commission under this new legal entity on 28 November 2018.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the provider’s new registration.

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.