We visited 38-40 Stoke Green on a weekday afternoon and spoke with four staff and the manager. We saw all three people who lived at the home and observed interactions between them and staff. After our visit we spoke by phone with a relative of one person who lived at the home. People who lived at the home had learning disabilities within the Autistic spectrum. This meant they displayed particular behaviours and had particular routines and patterns of behaviour. One person spoke to us briefly after encouragement, another made contact and the third person did not acknowledge us. We saw staff interacting with them and supporting them in calm and positive ways. Discussion with staff and a relative, observation and previous intelligence and knowledge showed us that people had made progress with the service in developing social and life skills.
We learned that there had been some changes with a new manager, a number of new staff and some extensive building alterations. Staff said they were well supported with training but told us they had not been supported by regular contact with the manager in the form of individual supervisions.
The manager told us they were appointed in June and were in the process of applying to register as the manager. We reminded them of the need for the service to have a registered manager. They told us their application was in the process of being completed and sent.