Alexandra House

Updated 12 December 2023

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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Alexandra House 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. Alexandra House is a care home 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 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 the 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 5 people who used the service. We spent some time observing and listening to staff interactions with people. We spoke with the registered manager, 2 senior carers and 1 support worker.

We conducted a visual inspection of the building and looked at a wide variety of records. These included people’s care and medicine records, monitoring documentation, staff files and audits used to monitor the service.

Updated 12 December 2023

About the service

Alexandra House is a residential care home providing personal care to 7 people. The service provides support to younger adults some of whom may be living with a mental health condition or a learning disability. Alexandra House consists of 7 flats and areas within the home which offer communal space. At the time of our inspection there were 7 people using the service.

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 assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Right Support: The environment was clean, tidy and spacious. People’s flats reflected the people who lived in them with photographs, artwork, and personalised decorative accessories on display. Ongoing maintenance kept the service to a good standard. People had choice in all aspects of their lives and were supported to do all they wanted to do when they wanted to do it. Staff had a flexible approach and accommodated people's wishes wherever possible. People had an active life which incorporated activities in their local community and where people had shared interests, they went out together. People received their medicines as required and staff worked in-line with recommendations from health professionals. 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.

Right Care: Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people's cultural needs and provided appropriate care and emotional support. The registered manager had a flexible approach to staffing levels to ensure activities, hobbies, individual interests, and outings were catered for. Staff acted quickly when needed to keep people safe, whilst promoting positive risk taking to allow people to build their daily living skills. People spoke highly of the staff team and the level of support they provided.

Right Culture: People received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their individual needs. Staff spoke highly of people and went 'above and beyond' for them to live the best lives possible. People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Management led by example and staff empowered people to do all that they wanted to do safely. The service was committed to a culture of improvement and regularly sought feedback from people, staff and professionals. People were at the centre of the service and staff valued and acted upon people's views.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 8 August 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Alexandra House 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.