Castle Dene

Updated 9 January 2020

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

Castle Dene consists of two types of service. The Castle Dene building, where people came to stay for short breaks or emergency placements, is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. We refer to this part as ‘respite’ or ‘respite service’ within the report.

The other part of Castle Dene is a shared lives scheme, they recruit, train and support self-employed shared lives carers (SLC) who offer accommodation and support arrangements for vulnerable adults within their own family homes in the community. We refer to this part as ‘shared lives service’ or ‘share lives settings’ within the report.

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

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people and staff available to speak with us.

What we did before 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 visited the Castle Dene building, which houses the respite service and service offices. We also made phone calls to people, relatives and shared lives carers. We spoke with three people who used the service, six shared lives carers and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, team leader, senior care workers and shared lives staff. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

As this was an inspection to check whether the service had sustained its good rating, we reviewed a smaller number of records. This included people’s care and medication records. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training overviews, checks and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 9 January 2020

About the service

Castle Dene specialises in the care and support of people with learning disabilities and/or autism, as well as additional health care needs.

Castle Dene offers two different types of service. A respite service accommodates up to eight people on short breaks or emergency placements in a care home within a residential area of South Gosforth in Newcastle. At the time of our visit, five people were staying at the respite service.

This care home was a single-floor adapted building, which also housed the offices from which the other part of the service was managed. This is a shared lives scheme which provides people with long-term placements, short breaks and respite care, within shared lives carers (SLC) own homes.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People’s experience of using the service and relatives’ feedback was overall positive. We took a balance of what people, relatives, staff and shared lives carers told us about the different parts of the service.

We found that some training needed to be updated and made a recommendation regarding the service’s awareness of current best practice guidance. Although the service had not been aware of Registering the Right Support, they applied the principles and values of this 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.

People using the shared lives service told us they felt safe living with their carers. People told us about their individual achievements, as well as activities they had enjoyed together with shared lives carers. One person said, “They look after me when I am not well. I am part of the family and call them mum and dad.“ Staff support to people in the respite service was respectful, dignified and person-centred. People appeared calm and relaxed in the presence of staff and feedback from relatives confirmed this. One relative summarised, “It is a nice place to go to, they know [name] well and they get on well. If I have any problems, I speak to the staff they will sort it out. I would recommend it to anyone.”

The empowering and inclusive culture of the service was led by a well-respected registered manager. The respite service setting required some updating, refreshment and refurbishment, which the registered manager had highlighted to the provider. They were looking to develop the service’s offer of things to provide sensory stimulation and seeking accreditation from the National Autistic Society.

Regular meetings took place for staff and shared lives carer and the registered manager was continuously looking to develop how they engaged and involved everyone with the service. Monitoring visits and other checks were in place to help ensure a safe, quality service. We considered with managers some improvements to ensure the consistency of reviews.

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 23 June 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.