The Grove

The Grove is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 2 people with a learning disability. At the time of the inspection 1 person was living at the service. The service is located on the lower ground floor of a care home operated by a different care provider.

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

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.

Right Support

Over the last couple of years there have been several instances when water from the building above had entered nearly all of the rooms in the service and the conservatory was leaking. The provider was in the process of addressing these issues to make sure it did not reoccur, for example they had checked the pipework above the service. They were currently reviewing what material was used as the basis for the floors above to ensure it would not let water through to the rooms below. A full refurbishment of the service was being undertaken.

The person was supported to have maximum possible choice, control and independence. Staff supported people to make decisions whilst following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with the person in ways that met their needs. Staff focused on the person’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so they had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Staff supported the person to achieve their aspirations and goals. The person was supported safely with medicines. Infection prevention and control practices reflected current guidance.

Right Care

The person received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected the person’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet the person’s needs and keep them safe. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. The person’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs, and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right culture

The person was supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. Staff placed the person’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. Staff were aware of and were working to best practice guidance for supporting people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

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 2 May 2018).

Why we inspected

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

This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led. For those key questions 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 The Grove on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We last inspected this service in 21 October and 10 November 2015, and found the service was complying with all the regulations and we rated the service as ‘Good.’

During this inspection we found the service remained good and met all the fundamental standards we inspected against.

The Grove is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The Grove can accommodate up to two people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection one person used the service.

The service has been created by redesigning a part of a large nursing home, Balmoral Court and the provider who operates The Grove is a separate organisation. Flexible Support Options Limited worked in collaboration with the provider of Balmoral Court to ensure the service was well maintained and all checks such as gas and electrical were completed. The staff from The Grove can access Balmoral Court via an internal stairway and need to do this to collect the mail as they don't have a separate mailing address. We noted that when converting the unit the provider had left all of the en-suite facilities in place and this led to communal areas such as lounges being smaller and continuing to resemble bedrooms.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. The goal is that people with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

The manager became the registered manager in February 2017. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

The person who used the service did not need staff to support them with their personal care but did require assistance to manage their medication, to deal with any deterioration in their physical health condition, and develop the independent living skills. We discussed with the registered manager whether they needed to maintain the registration of the service, as personal care was not being provided. The registered manager told us more people would move to the service and envisaged that in the future they would provide personal care.

Support plans were in place to meet people’s assessed needs. These plans incorporated people’s wishes and preferences about how their support was to be given.

The person told us they were happy and felt the staff were friendly and helpful. Staff told us they assisted the person to organise their day and to join in activities they enjoyed. The person always went out with staff and only stayed in the service by themselves for brief periods such as when staff popped to the local shops. Action was taken to ensure when people were deprived of their liberty appropriate safeguards were put in place. We discussed with the registered manager the current additional restrictions placed on the person and ensuring this was fully outlined in the care records.

Staff had been trained in safeguarding issues and knew how to recognise and report any abuse.

People’s medicines were managed safely.

There were enough staff to meet the person’s needs. Any new staff were appropriately vetted to make sure they were suitable and had the skills to work at the service. The staff were given support by means of regular training, supervision and appraisal.

Staff made the meals but if the person wanted they could make their own. Their dietary needs were fully understood and people told us staff encouraged them to eat a healthy diet.

The person was supported, where appropriate, to manage their health needs. Staff responded promptly to any changes in the person’s health or general demeanour.

The person told us they had no complaints about their care, but felt able to share any concerns they had with the registered manager and staff.

Systems were in place for auditing the quality of the service and for making improvements.