The Windham Croft Centre

Updated 8 July 2022

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Windham Croft Centre is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides short break domiciliary care for children and young people 0-18 who have learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder or a physical disability.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. The service was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke in person with the registered manager. We spoke with one young person using the service, seven relatives, two healthcare professionals who have regular contact with the service and six staff to get their experience and views about the care provided. We reviewed a range of records. This included two young people’s care plans and risk records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We checked a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including risk assessments, audits, and quality assurance information. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This included staff rotas and training information, and audits. We received the information which was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 8 July 2022

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.

About the service

The Windham Croft Centre is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection seven young people using the service were receiving personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People received a service that was safe for them to use and for staff to work in. The quality of the service was regularly reviewed, and changes made to improve people’s care and support as required. This was in a way that best suited people. The provider maintained well-established community working partnerships that promoted and enhanced people’s quality of life and reduced their social isolation.

Right Care

There were suitable numbers of appropriately recruited and trained staff who supported people to live in a safe way and enjoy their lives. Any risks to people and staff were assessed and monitored. Complaints, concerns, accidents, incidents and safeguarding issues were reported, investigated and recorded appropriately. Trained staff safely administered medicines to people, if required.

Right culture

The service leadership and management was transparent with an honest, open and positive culture. The provider’s vision and values were clearly defined, and staff understood and followed them. Staff were aware of their responsibilities, accountability and prepared to take responsibility and report any concerns they may have.

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.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 5 June 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to check whether the service was continuing to provide a good rated service to people.

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 remains good. 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 The Windham Croft Centre 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.