Church Road

Updated 2 December 2021

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an inspector.

Service and service type

Church Road 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. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be at the location to support the inspection.

Inspection activity was carried out between 29 October and 18 November 2021. We visited the home on 29 October 2021 as part of our site visit to the service.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who worked with the service, including Bolton local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided, as well as five relatives. We also spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and four support workers. We also spoke with three healthcare professionals involved with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and a selection of medication administration records (MAR). We also looked at three staff files to check staff were recruited safely. A variety of other records relating to the management of the service were also considered as part of the inspection.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the service to validate evidence found following our site visit.

Updated 2 December 2021

About the service

Church Road is a small residential care home providing personal care and accommodation to people with learning disabilities, or autistic spectrum disorder and/or mental health issues. The home is located in Bolton, Greater, Manchester. The home registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to accommodate up to six people. There were six people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service

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 feedback we received about the care provided at Church Road was extremely positive. Without exception, relatives and people who used the service consistently told us how caring and compassionate the staff team were, treating them with the upmost respect. There were several examples of where the staff had gone ‘above and beyond’ to ensure people received high quality care and support. The service used a number of different and distinctive ways to involve people in how the home was run. We saw a number of excellent examples where staff had gone the extra mile for people in relation to protected equality characteristics.

The staff team had been very creative in enabling people to stick to their normal routines and continue doing activities they enjoyed during lock down. Where people had enjoyed participating in certain hobbies when they were younger, the service had gone to great lengths to enable people to carry out these activities they had participated in during their childhood.

There was an exceptionally positive culture in the service. Staff consistently told us how much they liked working at Church Road, whilst feeling supported and very motivated to carry out their roles effectively. The feedback we received about management and leadership was very positive and it was clear the whole staff team were truly committed to ensuring people experienced person-centred care. The service had developed a number of links within the local community and worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure people received positive outcomes regarding their care and support. Health care professionals spoke very highly of the service and as a result, people experienced fantastic outcomes.

People told us they felt safe using the service and staff displayed good knowledge about how to protect people from the risk of harm. People received their medicines as prescribed and staff were trained in how to administer this safely. Appropriate staff recruitment checks were carried out and there were detailed risk assessments in place regarding the support people received.

People received the support they needed to eat and drink and were involved with shopping and creating menus which contained their favourite foods. Staff told us they were happy with the level of training, support and supervision available to assist them in their roles. 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.

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 ‘Inspected but not rated’ (published October 2020). This was a planned focussed inspection in line with our inspection programme due to COVID-19. We do not look at all the five key questions during a focussed inspection. During the inspection we looked at two key areas of safe and well-led. Therefore, the service was not given an overall rating.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating and because the service did not have an overall rating since they registered with CQC in 2019.

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.