Canterbury Close is a care home for people with learning disabilities. It can accommodate up to 10 people in two purpose build properties. It is close to Rotherham and local amenities. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people living in the home.

At the last inspection on the December 2014 the service was rated Good.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for ‘1 – 2 Canterbury Close on our website at www.cqc.org.uk’

At this unannounced inspection on the 28 March 2017 we found the service remained Good. The service met all relevant fundamental standards.

The service has a registered manager. 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.

Staff were knowledgeable about how to recognise signs of potential abuse and aware of the reporting procedures. Assessments identified risks to people and management plans to reduce the risks were in place. We received extremely positive feedback form people who used the service and their relatives. People we spoke with told us they felt safe and relatives also said the home provided safe care.

Robust recruitments procedures ensured the right staff were employed to meet people’s needs safely.

At the time of the inspection there was sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. Relatives we spoke with confirmed when they visited there were sufficient staff on duty. Relatives also told us there were adequate staff to facilitate regular activities.

Systems were in place to make sure people received their medications safely, which included key staff receiving medication training and regular audits of the system.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People were treated with respect .People and their relatives told us staff were kind and very caring. Staff demonstrated a good awareness of how they respected people’s preferences and ensured their privacy and dignity was maintained. We saw staff took account of people’s individual needs and preferences while supporting them.

People could take part in activities of their own choice and there were also organised group activities. People also received one to one support for activities in the community and had an organised holiday each year.

There was a system in place to tell people how to raise concerns and how these would be managed. People told us they would feel comfortable raising any concerns with the management team.

Relatives were very happy with how the service was run. There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Action plans were implemented for any improvements required and these were followed by staff. The quality monitoring had identified that some environmental improvements were required, however, the provider had not approved these and we had no date for work to commence. Since our inspection we have been informed they are approved and awaiting confirmation of start dates.

Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and had access to policies and procedures to inform and guide them.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The inspection took place on 19 December 2014 and was unannounced. We last inspected the service in November 2013 and found they were meeting the regulations we looked at.

Canterbury Close is a care home for people with learning disabilities. It can accommodate up to 10 people in two purpose build properties. It is close to Rotherham and local amenities. At the time of our inspection there were 9 people living in the home.

The service has a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People we spoke with told us they felt safe at the home. One person said, “I feel very safe here, I am settled I don’t want to move anywhere else.”

Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable regarding safeguarding vulnerable adults procedures and were able to explain the action required should an allegation of abuse be made.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) sets out what must be done to make sure that the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions are protected, including balancing autonomy and protection in relation to consent or refusal of care or treatment. The staff we spoke with during our inspection understood the importance of the Mental Capacity Act in protecting people and the importance of involving people in making decisions.

There were enough skilled and experienced staff and there was a programme of training, supervision and appraisal to support staff to meet people’s needs. Procedures in relation to

recruitment of staff were followed and all required information was obtained to help the employer make safer recruitment decisions.

People were provided with a choice of healthy food and drink ensuring their nutritional needs were met. We observed the meal time and people told us that they enjoyed the food and there was always an alternative if they didn’t like what was on the menu. One person said, “The food here is good. I can choose what I want to eat, today I have had soup for lunch.”

People’s physical health was monitored as required. This included the monitoring of people’s health conditions and symptoms so appropriate referrals to health professionals could be made.

People had access to activities that were provided both in-house and in the community. One person told us they were going to shopping on the day of our inspection. There was a mini bus available for people to use so they were able to access the community.

We observed good interactions between staff and people who used the service and the atmosphere was happy, relaxed and inclusive. Staff were aware of the values of the service and knew how to respect people’s privacy and dignity.

People told us they were aware of the complaints procedure and said staff would assist them if they needed to use it. People we spoke with told us they had not had to raise any complaints or concerns since they had lived at Canterbury Close.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. We saw copies of reports produced by the registered manager and the provider. The reports included any actions required and these were checked each month to determine progress. This ensured actions were completed to improve service delivery.

People we spoke with told us they liked living at the service. They told us the staff were good and looked after them. One person told us, “I have moved here from another service and I am very happy. The staff are lovely.”

People also told us that staff treated them with respect, listened to them, gave them choices, made them feel safe and supported them. One person we spoke with said, “All the staff are great they all help me and listen to my choices.” People we spoke with also told us, “I feel safe living here.”

There were systems in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection within the home. We observed the environment to be maintained in a clean condition. The manager had identified areas that required further improvement and these were being rectified by the provider.

We found there was an effective recruitment and selection processes in place. Staff received appropriate professional development.

There was an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. There was a complaints policy that took account of complaints and comments to improve the service.

Most people who lived at Canterbury Close were unable to speak with us, due to their complex needs. We therefore used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. We spoke with relatives of two people who told us the care staff were very good and people were well looked after.

We observed interactions and care practices during our visit and observed that some activities were arranged, one person was playing skittles when we arrived and was arranging to go out in the afternoon. We were able to speak with two people who used the service and they told us that they liked living at Canterbury Close and were able to go out.