Living Ambitions Limited - 231 Stafford Road

Updated 16 February 2024

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 2 regulatory coordinators, 1 of whom phoned relatives and healthcare professionals.

Service and service type

Living Ambitions Limited - 231 Stafford Road] is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Living Ambitions Limited - 231 Stafford Road is a care home [with/without] nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people, 1 relative, 4 staff, 3 healthcare professionals, the deputy manager, and the area manager. We reviewed 4 people’s care records and 4 staff files. We checked people’s medicines and medicines records. We carried out observations of staff interactions with people as well as of the environment of the care home. We checked quality assurance records, finance records and the physical cash held by the service for people.

Updated 16 February 2024

About the service

Living Ambitions Limited - 231 Stafford Road is a residential care home providing the regulated activity of accommodation and personal care for up to 6 people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were 4 people using 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. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

The support provided to people had improved since our last inspection. People received the support they required to have their needs met in line with their preferences. People were supported to have 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.

Right Care

At our last inspection there were insufficient staff available to provide safe care and support at all times. At this inspection we found there were enough trained and supervised staff available to meet people’s needs safely and effectively. The environment of the service had been improved since our last inspection and people’s risks were identified, assessed, and mitigated. Care records were up-to-date and provided staff with the guidance they required to meet people’s needs.

Right culture

Whilst the service still did not have a registered manager in post, the process for recruiting one was at an advanced stage. Staff were no longer demoralised and disorganised. The staff team had been organised to provide care and support effectively and the views of people and staff were gathered to shape how support was provided. Quality assurance processes had improved to enable monitoring, and drive improvements at the service. These need to be embedded and sustained.

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 inadequate (published 07 September 2023). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since January 2023. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Living Ambitions Limited - 231 Stafford Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.