We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Conifers on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about The Conifers, you can give feedback on this service.
The Conifers is a residential care home providing personal care providing support for up to 6 people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of the inspection there were 6 people living in the service. The Conifers is a large family bungalow, set in large gardens.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Right Support:
People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. One relative described the service as, “Very welcoming, very accommodating, more like a home. As a parent we hunted high and low to find a place like this.”
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. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life.
Staff knew how people preferred to take their medicines to achieve best possible health outcomes. People were encouraged to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing and supported to have access to specialist health and social care support in the community.
We have made a recommendation about weekend staffing levels.
Right Care:
People received kind and compassionate care by staff who knew them well. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. A relative told us, “It is clear to see to anyone who visits that the utmost care is taken and everything is done, above and beyond to make the home a loving and warm place to live.”
People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.
People took part in a range of activities and pursued interests that were tailored to them. Staff provided people with opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.
Right Culture:
The provider and management had a strong visible presence within the service and placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. They had created a culture of learning, opportunity and reflection.
The management enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views. Relatives spoke about the open and positive culture of the service. One relative wrote to us saying, ‘The Conifers management has always shown a professional attitude and responsibility for the [people] and demonstrates a significant empathy and caring attitude towards them.’
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 4 September 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 18 October 2019.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.