Stewart Court

Updated 15 September 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Stewart Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Stewart Court is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We reviewed CQC notifications. These describe events that happen in the service that the provider is legally required to tell us about.

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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met people who lived at Stewart Court, although they were not able to tell us about their experience in detail. We observed them going about their daily routines, including how staff interacted with people. We spoke with two people’s relatives and five members of staff, including the registered manager, deputy manager, team leaders and support staff. We spoke briefly with the quality assurance lead. We received feedback from a professional who worked with the service. Their comments have been incorporated into this report.

We looked at two people’s support plans and medicines records and additional information on the electronic records system. We reviewed documents relating to the management of the service such as incident records, audits, policies and training data.

Updated 15 September 2022

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.

About the service

Stewart Court is a residential care home providing personal care to six people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 10 people. Although it is a care home, people live in their own self-contained flats and receive intensive support from staff.

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

Right Support:

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Staff worked with people about how they received support and encouraged them to make decisions and develop their skills and independence. People were supported to take part in activities and pursue their interests.

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. The staff team learned from incidents to avoid or reduce them in the future.

The service provided support in a safe and clean environment that met people’s needs. People could make choices and personalise their living space. When necessary, significant adaptations were made to ensure the environment was safe and suitable for people.

People were supported to access specialist health and social care support in the community and were encouraged to be involved as far as possible. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best health outcome.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff understood people’s individual needs and provided culturally appropriate support. People’s support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People were given opportunities to try new activities and experiences.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Some people communicated without using words. They could interact with staff and other people who supported them because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

Right Culture:

People were empowered by the values, attitudes and behaviours of the managers and staff. There was a culture of respect ongoing improvement, and staff were positive about working at the service.

People received good quality support which was tailored to their needs because staff understood individual’s strengths, needs and sensitivities. Staff placed the people they supported at the heart of everything they did.

Staff knew people well. This meant people received consistent care from staff who knew their needs and abilities. People were encouraged to share their views and develop and improve the service. The quality of support provided was evaluated regularly.

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 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We only reviewed the safe and well led key questions at this inspection. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The overall rating for the service remains good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stewart Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.