Braemar House

Braemar House is a residential care home providing personal care to 12 people over the age of 18 at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 12 people and is in a residential area of the seaside town of Paignton, the service primarily supports people with a learning disability.

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 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 12 people. 12 people were using the service. 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 and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also 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 happy living in the service, the atmosphere was homely and jolly. People and staff were relaxed and there were caring interactions.

People were active where they wanted to be and were encouraged to get out and about to do the things they loved. People were challenged by staff in a professional and supportive way to encourage them to be as independent as possible. Staff knew people well and were able to identify when people felt unwell or were feeling sad and needed some more time or attention.

People told us they would go to staff if they had any issues and relatives who gave us feedback had no safety concerns. Staff knew how to identify abuse and safeguarding information was available for staff and people to read in an accessible format.

There were enough staff with relevant training to meet the needs of people. Staff understood people’s likes and dislikes and tailored the support accordingly. People were supported to access healthcare services and supported to eat a diet that was varied and had healthy options.

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.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

The service was well-led by a provider and registered manager who were passionate about advocating for the rights of people, so they could have access to opportunities and have fun and feel safe. Quality assurance processes were robust, and the provider was keen to be signposted on how to further develop the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 21 February 2019 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 December 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection in line with our guidance for new providers. We inspected the service within 12 months of the 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.