Archived: Stanway Close and Greenway Road

Stanway Close and Greenway Road is a care home providing personal care to one person who is autistic and has a learning disability. They received care and support 24 hours a day from a small team of four staff.

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.

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

The service was not fully able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

The service had been through a period of significant change during 2022. It had previously supported six people in two adjoining properties (known collectively as Stanway Close and Greenway Road). Due to one property requiring extensive repairs and renovation, five people had been supported to move to other services which met their needs. This service now only supported one person in the Greenway Road property and the provider had applied to change their registration to reflect this.

It was clear the person’s emotional wellbeing had suffered badly due to the loss of their trusted staff team and the recent temporary move to another service. The current staff were working hard to support the person to go out and re-establish old routines to enhance their quality of life. Photographs demonstrated that the person had once led a very active life and it was hoped they would again.

They were supported by staff to be involved in decisions about their care and support. Staff used communication methods which were personal to the individual to enable them to express themselves. Family members had not felt fully involved. They had not always been listened to or worked with collaboratively to develop and improve the service.

The provider had not treated all concerns and complaints seriously. Relatives told us they had raised concerns about their family member’s care and support over a significant period of time. They did not feel listened to and did not feel their concerns had been acted upon.

The person being supported had choice and control over their life. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The person received personalised care and support which was currently being built around their changing needs and preferences. They had a new, small staff team who they were getting to know and building trust in.

Staff were trained to support the person, who was relaxed with the staff who supported them. Staff supported the person with their medicine in a safe way.

Right Care

The person's care and support plan did not accurately describe the care being delivered by staff or the person’s chosen lifestyle. The new staff team were developing a good understanding of the person's needs and were flexible to enable them to meet changing needs and wishes.

The person did not take part in activities or pursue interests outside of the home as they once had. The service gave the person ongoing support to try once loved activities that had previously enhanced and enriched their lives.

The person received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected the person's privacy and dignity. Staff were understanding and were getting to know the person so they could respond well to their needs.

The person was kept safe from avoidable harm because the service had a clear policy to support staff to recognise and report abuse or poor care. Staff spoken with said they would be confident to report any concerns about possible abuse or poor practice. Relatives had no concerns about the person's safety.

The person who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds, signs and pictures interacted comfortably with staff and others involved in their care and support because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

Staff had not been well supported until the current manager had started working in the home. There was ongoing training and supervision for staff to make sure practice always followed best practice guidelines.

Right culture

The person and those important to them were now involved in planning their care. Family members told us they had not been fully involved in their loved one’s life and felt that the previous management team had not been approachable or effective. This was now improving and they were being listened to.

The person had not been supported by an effective management team. The provider had failed to consistently assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service. Rather than being able to develop and flourish, the person had suffered a significant decline in their quality of life. The new management team were working hard to improve all aspects of the service and build a new staff team. Relatives had regained some confidence in the management of the home and in the provider following these changes.

The person was supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities the person with a learning disability and/or autistic the person may have. This meant the person received compassionate care from a staff team who were building a trusting relationship with them.

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

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This service was registered with us on 8 February 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have made one recommendation in relation to supporting the person to rebuild their self confidence. We have identified a breach in relation to record keeping and quality monitoring at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.