21 June 2023
During a routine inspection
Whitmore Vale House is a care home which provides accommodation and personal care for up to 20 people with a learning disability and autistic people. The service is divided into three separate living quarters, each with their own kitchen and communal areas. At the time of our inspection 16 people were living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.
Right Support:
People were cared for by staff who supported them to learn new life skills and retain their independence. People could choose how they liked their care and how they wished to spend their time. One person said, “I go out for dinner and we go to the cinema.”
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 were supported in taking positive risks in order to promote their independence. Staff had written up risk assessments where guidance was recorded for staff to help reduce people’s risks.
People could express their views through meetings and staff took an interest in people and worked with them to achieve their goals and aspirations.
Right Care:
People were treated with respect by staff. People and staff had good relationships and staff spent time with people to enable them to do the things they wanted, like going to see their girlfriend or taking the bus into town.
People were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who had been trained appropriately. People received the medicines they were prescribed and were supported to access health care professional input when needed. This helped to ensure they retained a good level of health. People were able to choose what they ate and participated in the preparation of meals and drinks.
People lived in an environment which was suitable for them. People said they liked living at Whitmore Vale House and that they felt they were well cared for and safe.
Right Culture:
The registered manager had made improvements to the service since our last inspection. Relative’s gave positive feedback on management telling us, “The new manager is a good person” and, “The new manager is approachable.”
Staff and managers were clear about their roles and responsibilities and staff worked well together as a team. People received person-centred, individualised care as a result from staff who knew people and their needs well.
The registered manager and other senior staff were always looking for ways to improve the service by working with other external agencies, obtaining feedback from people, staff and relatives and through their governance processes and auditing systems.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 30 January 2021).
At our last inspection we recommended the registered provider arrange for refresher training for staff to enable them to carry out their role with confidence. We also recommended they carry out decision specific capacity assessments for people where restrictive practices were being considered. At this inspection we found the registered provider had responded to our recommendations.
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.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.