- Care home
Azalea House
Report from 21 February 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: We carried out our on-site assessment on 11 July 2024; off site assessment activity started on 07 July 2024 and ended on 19 July 2024. Azalea House is a residential care home located in the town of Bedford. It offers a holistic and therapeutic recovery support model for up to 8 adults with a learning disability and mental health support needs. The accommodation comprises of 2 houses situated next door to each other. At the time of our site visit there were 7 people living at the service. 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 statutory 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. We assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group. We found that people received an exceptionally personalised service from a dedicated staff team. People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff team. Treating people with dignity and respect, and person-centred care was at the very heart of the service. There was very strong and passionate leadership which put people first and staff were proud to work for the service and felt valued for their work. A positive culture was demonstrated by the attitudes of staff and management when we talked with them about how they supported people.
People's experience of this service
Without exception, people spoke positively about their experience of using the service. One person told us, “This is definitely the best support facility I have been in.” A relative told us, “It has saved my [family member]. The support is brilliant.” People's dignity and human rights were fully promoted, and staff fully understood and responded to people's individual needs in a person-centred way. People received care that focused on their quality of life and followed best practice, with input from a range of health and social care professionals. There were sufficient numbers of skilled and competent staff to ensure they could safely support people who used the service. One person commented, “The staff are brilliant. They will go to any lengths to help.” Health professionals commented how impressed they were with the knowledge of staff and their dedication to supporting people that fully respected their diverse needs.