Fletton Avenue

Updated 20 March 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 10 March 2021 and was announced prior to us entering the home, so we could ensure that measures were in place to support an inspection and manage any infection control risks.

Updated 20 March 2021

About the service

Fletton Avenue is a residential care home providing personal care to up to six people all of whom have a learning disability and autism.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People were positive about the staff and the management team. People told us staff were very caring and that staff knew them extremely well. Staff told us that it was a very happy team and they all worked well together.

People were protected against harm and their rights were upheld. Safe recruitment was followed to ensure the staff employed were suitable to care for people and shared the values of the service.

People received their medicines as prescribed. These were administered by staff who were competent to do so. The registered provider was following relevant guidance for infection control. The environment was clean and well maintained.

Staff received training and were well supported to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and confidence they needed to perform their roles effectively. Staff were very knowledgeable about people's needs and supported people to remain as independent as possible. People were well supported to eat and drink and maintain a healthy diet.

There was a strong person-centred culture throughout the service and staff were skilled in providing good care and support to people. People's dignity was very well managed and individual with people's choices and preferences fully respected.

Staff demonstrated caring values and showed a very positive regard for what was important to people. The trust developed between people and staff helped promote people's independence, confidence and helped them achieve positive outcomes. Respect for equality, diversity and inclusion was fully embedded within the service and in how staff communicated with and worked with people.

Staff promoted people's right to make their own decisions wherever possible and respected the choices they made. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The registered manager worked within mental capacity legislation and consulted with relevant people on important decisions made in people’s best interest.

People were involved in reviewing their care and making any necessary changes. Information was provided in formats that were accessible to people. When it was needed staff worked well with a range of external health and social care professionals to ensure people's existing and changing needs were being fully met

A process was in place which ensured any concerns or complaints people and their relatives may have had could be raised. Concerns were acted upon quickly and lessons were learned through positive two-way communication.

The service was well managed by a registered provider and registered manager who worked closely together and demonstrated strong values, led by example and maintained an open and a caring culture.

The registered provider had systems in place to monitor quality and was open to the continuous development of the service.

Systems were also in place to enable the registered provider to monitor accidents and incidents to identify any lessons learned and make any improvements when they had identified this was required.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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

The Secretary of State has asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to conduct a thematic review and to make recommendations about the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide care for people with or who might have mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. Thematic reviews look in-depth at specific issues concerning quality of care across the health and social care sectors. They expand our understanding of both good and poor practice and of the potential drivers of improvement.

As part of thematic review, we carried out a survey with the registered manager at this inspection. This considered whether the service used any restrictive intervention practices (restraint, seclusion and segregation) when supporting people.

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection we rated this service Good (report published on 19 April 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.