The Coach House

Updated 6 June 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

The Coach House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection.

The home had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the home is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager was present during the inspection.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection visit:

We checked the information we held about the home. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the home such as what the home does well and any improvements that they plan to make.

We reviewed other information we held about the home such as notifications. A notification tells us information about important events that by law the provider is required to inform us about. For example: safeguarding concerns, serious injuries and deaths that had occurred at the home. We also considered information we had received from other sources including the public and commissioners of the service provided. We used this information to help us plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We met with seven of the people who lived in the home. Four people spoke with us about some aspects of the home. We did this to gain people's views about the care and to check that standards of care were being met. We observed people’s care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also spoke with three members of staff, the unit manager and the registered manager.

We looked at the care records of three people who lived at the and we looked at a staff recruitment file. We also looked at records relating to the day to day management of the home, as well as some of the checks and audits.

After the inspection:

We contacted and spoke with two relatives by phone about their experience of using the support and service that was provided to people who live in the home.

Updated 6 June 2019

About the service:

The Coach House Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to nine people with a learning disability or autism. At the time of the inspection the home was fully occupied.

Registering the Right Support has values which include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. This is to ensure people with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. The home was meeting the principles of this policy.

People’s experience of using this service:

People in the home were supported by clear and robust systems to be safe and well cared for by staff who were appropriately recruited and well trained. The care and support needs of people were well known by staff who had fully assessed any known risks and put management plans in place that were focussed on enabling the person to expand their skills and experiences.

People were supported to be engaged in a numerous and wide range of activities suited to each of them individually. Staff were committed to making sure that each person had a fulfilling life and people were protected from social isolation and encouraged to participate in and enjoy community activities. Staff were vocal in raising suggestions to help broaden people's daily life experiences.

People continued to be supported by staff who were well trained and committed to helping people. Staff were exceptionally kind and compassionate in how they supported people and were skilled in understanding people’s individual preferences. People were comfortable in the company of staff, and we noted that staff were attentive and responsive when people were ill at ease or showing signs of distress.

People were supported to do things they enjoyed and each day most of the people went out from the home to engage in a wide range of activities. There was a clear and strong culture in the home of helping people to have a full varied life. People were fully involved by staff who were exceptional in how they helped people to determine and agree how their care and support needs were to be met. Staff were aided by the communication systems in place that were accessible to people receiving support.

Staff supported people to make choices and understood their individual communication styles. People were encouraged to be independent and their privacy and dignity was respected. People were supported to be involved in their local community and village life.

People were supported by staff who knew how people expressed dissatisfaction and ensured that any such expressions were acknowledged and responded to, involving advocacy services as necessary. Relatives of people advised that they understood how to make a complaint and they were confident that they would be listened to.

The registered manager and provider had robust systems in place to monitor the quality of care which were effective. The views and opinions of people staff, relatives and professionals continued to be sought out and used to help monitor and drive up the quality of the service provided. Actions plans were developed when areas of improvement were identified.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated Good (report published in August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

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