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.