Sycamore Court

Sycamore Court provides care to people living in their own homes and or a supported living setting. 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. At the time of our inspection, 7 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care. The service provides support to adults with autism, learning disabilities and mental health needs.

People’s experience of the 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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 Support: People’s individual care and support needs and any known risks had been assessed and planned for. Guidance for staff of how to mitigate risks were overall detailed and continually monitored and updated. Staff understood people’s individual care needs and any associated risks.

People were supported to manage their prescribed medicines and to have their medicines reviewed by the GP. People were supported to manage their tenancy, monitor health and safety and report any repairs to the landlord.

People were protected from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Accidents and incidents were reviewed, and actions were taken to reduce reoccurrence and any learning opportunities were discussed with the staff team.

There were sufficient staff employed to meet people’s individual care and support needs. Staff had received an induction and ongoing training and support. Staff had been safely recruited.

Right Care: People were positive about the care and support they received. They were fully involved in discussions and decisions about the care and support they received. People spoke highly of the care staff. Observations of staff engagement with people was kind, caring and respectful.

Right Culture: There was a positive staff culture. Staff were happy in their work and felt well supported. The provider had robust systems and processes to monitor quality and safety. Oversight and leadership of the service were good.

People were supported to lead active and fulfilling lives. People accessed their local community regularly, attended college courses, and recreational and leisure activities.

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 26 January 2019).

At this inspection we found the service remains Good.

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 Sycamore Court 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.

Sycamore Court provides care and support to people living in two 'supported living' settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. Some people using the service lived in a ‘house in multi-occupation’ that could be shared by three or more people. Houses in multiple occupation are properties where at least three people in more than one household share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities.

At the time of our inspection, there were ten people in receipt of personal care support. The service provides support to adults with autism, learning disabilities and mental health needs.

Not everyone using Sycamore Court receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they felt safe with the staff team at Sycamore Court. Staff members had a good understanding of the various types of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

Staff were skilled at ensuring people were safe. Potential risks people were exposed to had been identified and reviewed. Risk assessments included detailed information and guidance to support staff to follow measures to reduce the risk of harm.

People received care from a consistent team of staff in sufficient numbers to meet their needs.

People were protected from the risk of unsuitable staff because the provider followed safe recruitment procedures. People were supported to take their medicines safely and were protected from the risk of infection.

Staff were provided with the training they needed to have a full understanding of their role and develop the skills and knowledge to meet people's needs. Staff were positive about the support they received from managers.

Staff worked in partnership with other health professionals and agencies to ensure all aspects of people's health and well-being was maintained.

People were supported to make decisions and choices about their care. Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and sought consent before providing care and support.

People had positive relationships with staff who knew them well. People were fully involved in their care.

Staff were described as kind and caring. Staff were committed to protecting people's right to dignity and privacy and treated people with respect. People were supported to develop their independence as far as possible and be a part of their local community.

People's concerns and complaints were listened to and responded to in order to improve the quality of care.

People, relatives and staff were able to express their opinions and views and were encouraged and supported to be involved in the development of the service. People were enabled to have links with the local community and staff worked in partnership with other agencies to improve people's lives.

The provider and registered manager demonstrated strong values and a desire to learn about and implement best practice throughout the service. Staff were highly motivated and proud of the service. There were effective systems to continually monitor the quality of the service and bring about improvements to develop the service.