About the service: Cherry Tree Close is a residential care home. It provides accommodation and personal care for up to two adults with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were two people living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service: The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice values. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice and independence. People using the service received planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways:

• People’s support focussed on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

• People were supported by a small but consistent team of long-term staff who were kind and caring. Because people had lived at the service for many years and staff had worked there for a long time, staff had good relationships with people and knew them well. Staff knowledge in relation to people’s condition, their needs, and how to support them was thorough.

• Care plans were person centred and included people’s personal goals for the year. There was a focus on providing people with a clear timetable and consistent support. This resulted in people being relaxed and being able to enjoy doing things they wanted to do.

• There was an open culture where staff and people could raise concerns or issues. People told us they felt safe at the service and felt happy to speak up.

Rating at last inspection: Good

At the last inspection the service was rated Good (This report was published on 17 September 2016)

Why we inspected: We inspected this service as part of our ongoing Adult Social Care inspection programme. This was a planned inspection based on the previous Good rating. Previous CQC ratings and the time since the last inspection were also taken into consideration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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

This was an announced inspection which was completed on 6 September 2016. The reason the inspection was announced was to ensure the people living in the home were available for us to speak with and to provide them with assurances about our visit. This was because some people with Asperger’s syndromes become anxious when in the company of unfamiliar people. We gave 24 hours notice of this visit.

Cherry Close provides accommodation and personal care for three people. There were two people living at the home when we inspected. The registered manager told us people had a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome in the completed provider information return. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they planned to make.

Cherry Tree Close is situated in the town of Nailsworth close to local shops and amenities. Where people had been assessed as being safe to do so, they accessed the town independently. The home is situated over two floors which are accessible by stairs. All bedrooms were single occupancy which people could personalise to suit their individual taste.

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. The registered manager had responsibility for three other homes owned by Gloucestershire Group Homes Ltd.

People were receiving care that was responsive and effective. Care plans were in place that described how the person would like to be supported. This included how the person’s Asperger’s syndrome impacted on their day to day live. The care plans were tailored to the person and provided staff with information to support the person effectively. Some information about people’s goals was not always clearly recorded for example how much money a person should save. However, staff knew about this and described how they supported the person. People had been consulted about their care needs and their views sought about the service.

People were supported to make decisions and take proportionate risks. Systems were in place to ensure that complaints and any concerns in respect of abuse were responded to. Systems were in place to ensure people were safe including risk management, checks on the environment and safe recruitment processes. People’s medicines were managed safely. The over counter medicines people could take would benefit from a review. Health and social care professionals were involved in the care of the people where required.

People were supported to access the community either with staff support or independently. There was usually one member of staff working in Cherry Close. There were day care staff who complimented the residential staff, supporting people to take part in activities of their choice. There was a day centre that people could access if they wanted during the day and two evenings a week.

The staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and caring in their approach. Staff felt supported by the management team. Staff received training relevant to their needs. There was a training plan in place which was being monitored by the senior management team. Staff were receiving regular one to one meetings with their line manager.

Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of the service which included visits from the provider and the registered manager. People’s views were sought through surveys. The provider told us these had not been sent for 2016 as they were reviewing the format to ensure it was appropriate.

We have made a recommendation about the recording of information.

There were two people living at Cherry Tree Close. Both people had been living at the home for a number of years and appeared to get on well together. One person spoke with us about their hobbies and interests and told us “I like the staff”. The other person chose not to speak with us but we saw that they were relaxed in the company of staff and engaged well with them. We spoke with a relative of one of the people living at the home who told us they were happy with the service.

We looked at the care records for both of the people living at Cherry Tree Close. We spoke with two staff about those people’s needs. We found care and support plans were informative and personalised to the individual, reflected people’s needs and were regularly reviewed.

We found that records were detailed and amended when required in order to ensure they reflected the current support needs of the people living at the home. We saw that staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and used this knowledge to support people to make their own day-to-day decisions about their care.

We found appropriate arrangements for the recording, handling, storage and safe administration of medicines.

During our inspection, we saw staff supporting the two people living at the home. Through their actions, staff showed how well they knew each person's needs. Staff supported people patiently and respectfully. There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs.

People told us that they were happy living at the home and that they were satisfied with how their care needs were being met. One person told us ''I like the staff, they are alright'', another person told us ''They always look after us'' We spoke with two members of staff during our visit. They showed a good awareness of the needs of the people that they supported.

People in the home generally appeared relaxed and comfortable with the staff that supported them. People did not raise concerns with us about their care or welfare.

People's special dietary needs had been recorded within care plans and risk assessments. Staff at the home monitored the food and drink of people to ensure their nutritional needs were being met.

3 Cherry Tree Close provided a comfortable, homely environment for the people that lived there.

People living at the home were supported by staff that had been trained to meet their needs.

A person said they liked living at the home. They told us they go out to the local town visiting cafes, pubs and the garden centre. One person described their work experience at a local business park and showed us the work they did. People also use a day centre owned by Gloucestershire Group Homes. We observed one person being supported by staff. They were responsive to their needs and treated them with dignity and respect.

Relatives commented that this was "an excellent facility for my son" and "very happy with the way he is looked after".

We observed people in the day centre and at home. They appeared to be happy and had positive interactions with staff.