Background to this inspection
Updated
15 March 2022
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.
This inspection took place on 28 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection.
Updated
15 March 2022
About the service:
Milton House is a service which provided personal care to nine people, living with a learning disability or autism, at the time of the inspection. The service was split over two houses and people shared facilities such as the kitchen and the bathrooms. The service can support up to 13 people.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found:
People were positive about their care. One person told us, ‘‘It is a nice family atmosphere here. This is really important to us all and it is very pleasant here.’’
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.
People were supported with kindness respect and compassion by a staff team that knew them well. People were able to make choices about their support and the staff team supported people to live their life in the way they chose. People were communicated to in their preferred communication methods.
People were supported to access the community and take part in activities which they had chosen. These activities were important to people and promoted their independence and presence in the local community.
People were protected from harm and abuse by systems put in place at the service in areas such as medicines and safeguarding. People had assessments in place to ensure that they were able to take positive risks. There were enough staff to support people safely and enable people to take part in activities which they had chosen.
People were supported by a knowledgeable staff team who received training and supervision to be effective in their job roles.
People were positive about the way they were supported with food and drink. Staff supported people based on their choices and dietary needs. People were supported to visit health care professionals when this support was needed.
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.
People had access to a complaints policy and procedure. People had been supported to record what would be important to them at the end of their life so that staff could support them at this time.
The registered manager promoted a positive culture and was very visible in the service. The registered manager completed audits and checks to monitor the quality of the service and put action in place to make improvements.
People using the service and the staff team were encouraged to be involved in the development of the service. The registered manager and the staff team worked with other organisations to ensure good outcomes for people using 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:
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 18 July 2018).
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. At this inspection we found that the service has made improvements and is now rated as good in all KLOES.
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.