Roman Court

Updated 30 December 2021

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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Supported Living:

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with three professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 30 December 2021

About the service

Roman Court is a supported living service where people are supported to live in their own flats. Staff were providing personal care to 3 people with learning disabilities or autism at the time of the inspection. People using the service lived in ordinary flats in a single building.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People were living full, active independent lives at Roman Court. Dedicated staff supported people to take positive risks and to enjoy doing things they chose. Staff were positive, happy and friendly, and people and relatives appreciated the care people received. Focus was always on what people could do and how staff could support people to do more, including increasing their independence.

People were the at the heart of the service and their wants, needs and individuality were always accommodated. Care was planned around people’s goals, which were recorded in support plans. Staff knew people well and chatted to them about their interests while providing support. We saw people go out to take part in hobbies or shopping trips both alone and with staff, in each case people chose if they wanted staff to accompany them.

People were safe at the service and the registered manager ensured safety measures put in place to protect people were always the least restrictive option and also where possible they were unobtrusive to ensure people’s dignity was protected.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

People lived independently and staff supported people to make their own choices. People were included in decisions about new staff at the service. The individual flats were in a larger block where other residents lived. The location was close to the town so that people were able to go to the shops alone.

Right care:

Care was person- centred. Support plans were specific for each person and contained details of things important to the person. Relatives told us how happy they were with the care at the service. One relative said, “ We feel fortunate that [person] is in Roman Court.”

Right culture:

The passion and dedication of staff at Roman Court showed in their interactions with people. Conversation was light and often full of jokes. People were happy to tease staff and staff joined in with the laughter. A relative told us, “You can't go to Roman Court without coming away feeling good.”

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

This service was registered with us on 25/11/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the registration date.

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.