Archived: Ash Street

Updated 21 March 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was conducted by an adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: Ash Street is a ‘Care Home.’ People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at on this inspection. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and people are often out during the day. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we looked at the Provider Information Return, which includes information from the provider about how the service is run and where they will make improvements. We also looked at notifications received from the home, which tell us how events that happen in the home are dealt with. We also requested feedback from the local authority. We used this information to populate our ‘planning tool’. This helps us to plan how the inspection will be carried out.

During the inspection, we spoke to one person who lived at the home and one relative by telephone. We also spoke with three staff and the registered manager. We also spoke with one social care professional who provided feedback via email. We looked at two support plans for the people who lived at the home, two staff files, medicine administration processes, complaints and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service.

Updated 21 March 2019

About the service: Ash Street is part of Arden College that provides specialist further education for young people aged 16-25 years of age with learning disabilities. Ash Street can provide accommodation for three young adults aged over 18 who attend the college and there are support staff 24 hours per day. Accommodation can be term time only and outside of term time if required. At the time of our inspection there were two people living at the home and attending the college and one person staying at weekends for respite care.

People’s experience of using this service:

Comments indicated that Ash Street was safe, and people enjoyed living there and attending college. Medication was managed safely and only administered by staff who had they correct training to do so. Staff were recruited safely, and checks were made on their character and suitability to work with vulnerable people. Risk assessment were clear, reviewed often, and contained information which described how to reduce the risks occurring. The environment had underdone contractual checks to ensure it was safe. There was some agency staff being used, however, these were only used following an induction process, and the same staff were often requested. Staff we spoke with could clearly describe the process for safeguarding people from abuse.

The registered manager was following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We did discuss that some information around consent and best interest decisions would benefit from being clearer in support plans. The registered manager took this feedback on board. People were supported by staff who were skilled and had undergone all mandatory training. Staff also engaged in regular supervision. People made their own meals supported by staff and using recipe picture cards. The staff engaged with other health and social care professionals to ensure people had access to appropriate health care.

Staff were caring. We received positive comments regarding the staff’s approach and the way they respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were encouraged as much as possible to be involved in their support plans.

Support plans were personalised and were written in a way which encouraged staff to promote people’s independence and diverse needs. Complaints were recorded and responded to in line with the organisation’s procedures.

The registered manager worked a part of the team and staff said they were a good source of support. The registered manager was visible during our inspection and responded positively to feedback. There were a range of audits in place which scrutinised service provision and any changes were implemented as needed. There was positive partnership working between Ash Street and Arden College to ensure people received safe and consistent support.

Rating at last inspection: The service was last rated good, report published October 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the ratings at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk