Lowdell Close

Ratings

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

Lowdell Close is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. Lowdell Close is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises, and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Date of assessment: 21 to 22 January 2025. We carried out an unannounced visit to the service on the 21 January 2025 and made phone calls to people’s relatives and professionals on 22 January 2025.

This was the first assessment of the service since it was registered with the current provider on 29 April 2024. The service was operating under a different registered provider before this. The last rating under the previous provider was requires improvement (published 2 October 2022).

Following this assessment, we have rated the service good.

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. The service was able to demonstrate they were meeting the principles of right support, right care, right culture.

People were happy living at the service. They were well supported by kind staff who knew them well. They were treated with respect and were able to make choices. Not everyone could use words to communicate. The staff supported people to be understood and to understand them using personalised communication. The staff worked closely with other health care professionals to monitor and meet people’s healthcare needs and keep them safe. Staff felt well supported and there were effective systems to monitor and improve quality.

People's experience of this service

People were safe, comfortable and well cared for. They had good relationships with the staff. People had the opportunities to make choices, and these were respected. People’s relatives were happy with the service and the way it was managed. They were able to speak with the registered manager and felt involved and respected. People took part in individual activities which reflected their interests and needs. People living at the service had a range of complex health conditions, physical disabilities and communication needs. The staff worked closely with others to make sure these were met.