River View

Updated 23 December 2023

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

River View 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. River View 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 23 November 2023 and ended on 30 November 2023. We visited the location’s service on 23 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We gathered feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We looked around the home and observed how staff interacted with people. We spoke with 3 people who used the service. We spoke with the registered manager, 2 team leaders and 3 support staff. We reviewed a range of records this included 2 people’s care records, medicine administration records and 2 staff recruitment files. A variety of other records relating to the management of the service were also considered as part of the inspection. These included audits, training and supervision records.

Following the inspection, we looked at a range of documents sent to us such as audits, meeting minutes and policies. We also spoke with 2 relatives via telephone and obtained written feedback from a professional working in the education sector.

Updated 23 December 2023

River View is a care home providing care and accommodation to young people with autism and a learning disability. The service is registered to support a maximum of 3 people. At the time of the inspection there were 3 people using the service.

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

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.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff sometimes supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; however, systems in the service did not always support this practice. Best interest decisions were not in place for one person and the language used in their support plan may be interpreted in a restrictive way.

We made a recommendation about this.

Right Support: People had a clear communication plan detailing how best to support them. tailored visual schedules were in use to support their understanding. People were assisted with their medication in a safe and appropriate manner. Staffing was provided at safe levels that enabled people to access the community and activities with support from trained, competent staff.

Right Care: Care and support was person centred, and records reflected people's goals and outcomes. although these could be made more consistent. Staff training and supervision was relevant, we observed people positively engaged with the staff team and the atmosphere in the home was welcoming and warm.

Right Culture: Audits should be reviewed to ensure they capture all regulatory requirements and ensure risks are mitigated.

We made a recommendation about this.

The service had recently undergone considerable change in relation to transition and staffing changes. Now the staff team were more consistent and transitions for people undertaken, the registered manager spoke positively of embedding policy and practice regarding the areas for improvement we found. Staff told us they felt very supported by the registered manager.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 31 July 2018.) At this inspection the rating has remained the same.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

The overall rating for the service has remained as good.

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

We have made a recommendation relating to the Mental Capacity Act and also in relation to audit processes.

Follow up

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