Hamilton Court

Updated 6 November 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Hamilton Court provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service short notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care worker, and support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records, risk assessments and records of medicines. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including two staff files, staff training records, audits and safety checks, meeting minutes and survey results.

Updated 6 November 2019

About the service

Hamilton Court is a supported living service. It provides support for people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder living in the community. Accommodation is based in a small housing complex owned by South Yorkshire Housing Association. At the time of the inspection 16 people were using the service. Three people lived in single occupancy flats, and there were also three houses each providing accommodation to four people who used the service.

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.

The service used positive behaviour support principles to support people in the least restrictive way. No restrictive intervention practices were used.

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

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.

The people we visited told us the service had helped them to maintain and improve their independence and confidence. People said they liked and trusted the staff and interactions we saw between people and staff were friendly, supportive and respectful.

People felt safe living at the service and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Procedures for recruiting new staff made sure that only suitable people were employed in the service. The arrangements for handling medicines were safe and people received their medicines as prescribed.

Care was personalised to people’s individual needs and people’s care plans were being developed to support this further. People led active lives and engaged in activities as individuals, and with their friends, partners and peers.

People, those close to them and staff were involved in decisions about the service delivery and development through meetings and surveys. The managers of the service were approachable, responsive to suggestions and well respected by people.

The service worked with a variety of professionals to maintain people’s health and wellbeing and people had access to a good range of health care services. Staff encouraged people to eat a healthy diet and people had enough to eat and drink. 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.

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 January 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.