This was an unannounced inspection of the service which took place on the 28 & 29 January 2016. We had previously inspected this service on 19 June 2014 when it was found to be compliant with all standards which meant no concerns were identified.Rowsley House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to seven people from 16 years of age, living with a learning disability and associated health needs. The accommodation is based over three floors. There are no mixed gender floors.
At the time of the inspection, seven people were living in the home. There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People living in the service told us they were happy living there and that the “Staff are always there to help me”. Family members told us that their relative was better since they had moved to Rowsley House, and “It was the best thing that had ever happened to them.” Staff told us it was “A special house” and it was “Run amazingly.”
Support staff were confident in describing the different kinds of abuse and the signs and symptoms that would suggest a person they supported might be at risk of abuse. They knew what action to take to safeguard people from harm.
A system was in place to identify and assess the risks associated with providing safe care and support. We saw risks had been discussed with the people who used the service and action agreed to keep people safe from accidental harm.
People were well cared for by staff who were knowledgeable about their complex needs and there was sufficient staff on duty at all times to provide the required support. A number of people living at the service had behaviours which could put them and others at risk. We saw that their needs were met and at times exceeded their own personal expectations. This was shown in the reduction of instances were these behaviours were displayed. This was possible because staff knew people so well, the very early signs of changes of mood and demeanour were picked up and distraction techniques were used to manage potential situations and avoid the need for further and more serious interventions.
We found that the care that people received was very person centred and met their individual needs. There was evidence of creativity throughout the service, and that staff and the senior managers cared about the well-being of the people who lived at the service. Staff understood people’s communication needs and supported people to make choices about the food they wanted to eat and activities they wanted to participate in. We observed that people were supported to carry out household tasks and two people using the services were supported to access the local community during our inspection.
People were referred to healthcare professionals as required. We saw people had been supported to access such as general practitioners (GPs), dentists, opticians, psychologists and psychiatrists when necessary.
We found the service to be welcoming and homely. People had activities which had been planned for them as individuals, rather than as a group. This meant the service had recognised the specific needs and interests of each person and had taken action to make sure they were met.
People said they knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy about the support they received and that they would let the registered manager or a member of staff know.
The registered manager had developed an effective system of quality assurance, which measured the outcomes of service provision. Staff and relatives had been included in this process and their feedback had been used to make improvements to the way the service was provided.
We found that the service was well led at all levels of management. The registered provider had regular oversight of the quality of the care being delivered, as they had robust policies and procedures in place and comprehensive auditing was carried out to measure quality across all aspects of the service.