Butterfly’s (Alresford) is a residential care home registered to provide personal care and accommodation for up to five people with learning disabilities and on the autism spectrum. The service is a bungalow located in Alresford, Essex. Each person has a single room with ensuite facilities and there is a communal bathroom, kitchen, laundry, dining room and lounge. There is a rear enclosed garden at the back of the house with level access. At the time of our inspection there were five people living at the service.

This comprehensive inspection took on the 11 January 2018 and was unannounced.

At the last inspection in June 2016, the service was rated Good overall.

At this inspection, we found the service remained Good as all relevant standards were met.

People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff team and the quality of care received. A motivated, caring and well-trained staff team cared for people. Staff understood how to identify people at risk of abuse and aware of protocols for reporting any concerns they might have.

Staff had been provided with sufficient guidance and information within care planning records, staff meetings and supervision support.

Care and support plans were personalised, regularly reviewed and accurately reflected people's care and support needs. This included an assessment of their health care needs and the planning of personalised activities, which reflected people's autonomy and choice about how they lived their daily lives.

People's likelihood of harm was reduced because risks to people's health, welfare and safety had been assessed and risk assessments produced to guide staff in how to mitigate these risks and keep people safe from harm.

Medicines were managed safely and the provider's recruitment procedures demonstrated that they operated a safe and effective recruitment system.

The culture of the service was open, inclusive, empowering and enabled people to live as full a life as possible. People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

There were a number of quality and safety monitoring audits to help ensure the service was running safely, effectively and to plan for improvement of the service.

This inspection took place on the 5 April 2016 and was unannounced.

Butterfly’s is a small care home providing personal care and support for up to five people with a learning disability. On the day of our inspection there was five people living at the service

There was 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.

People were well cared for, relaxed and comfortable with staff. People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff team and the quality of care people received. People were cared for by a motivated, caring and well trained staff team. Staff understood how to identify people at risk of abuse and aware of protocols for reporting any concerns they might have.

Staff had been provided with sufficient guidance and information within care records. Care and support plans were personalised regularly reviewed and accurately reflected people’s care and support needs. This included an assessment of their health care needs and the planning of personalised activities which reflected people’s autonomy and choice about how they lived their daily lives.

People’s likelihood of harm was reduced because risks to people’s health, welfare and safety had been assessed and risk assessments produced to guide staff in how to mitigate these risks and keep people safe from harm. Medicines were managed safely and the provider’s recruitment procedures demonstrated that they operated a safe and effective recruitment system.

The culture of the service was open, inclusive, empowering and enabled people to live as full a life as possible according to their choices, wishes and preferences. The management team provided effective leadership to the service and enabled people to air their views through regular review of their care, meetings and their involvement in the planning of their care.