We inspected this service on 22 August 2018. The inspection was announced.

1 Foxlydiate Mews offers respite accommodation for up to five people with learning disabilities and sensory impairments. The service offers short term accommodation to people with complex health needs, so relatives and carers are supported in their caring roles. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Forty two people used the respite service at the time of our inspection visit.

There was a registered manager in post at the service. 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.

At the last inspection in August 2015 the service was rated as Good. At this inspection we found the quality of care had been maintained and people continued to receive a service that was well led, providing safe, caring, effective and responsive care and support that met their needs. The rating remains 'Good'.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs and provide effective care. Staff felt they had good training. Staff were supervised and supported in their roles. People were supported to access health services when needed and staff regularly worked in conjunction with other health and social care professionals.

People had a comprehensive assessment of their health and social care needs before they used the service. Care plans contained detailed information to enable people to receive appropriate care and support that was responsive to their complex needs. People’s care needs were regularly reviewed. The registered manager and the provider were in regular contact with people, or their relatives, to check the care provided was what people needed and expected.

People and relatives were very satisfied and very complimentary with the quality of care provided.

People felt safe and were supported by a consistent, kind and caring staff team. Staff were caring and people were treated with dignity and respect.

Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and harm. There were procedures to keep people safe and manage identified risks to people’s care.

Medicines were administered by staff who were trained and assessed as competent to do so safely. The provider had a recruitment process that had suitable checks in place to ensure staff were suitable to support people who used the service.

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) were followed by the registered manager and staff. People’s decisions and choices were respected and people felt involved in their care. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff sought permission before assisting them.

There were governance systems in place that provided the registered manager with an overview of areas such as care and medicine records.

This inspection took place on 24 August 2015 and was unannounced. Foxlydiate Mews is a short break service which provides accommodation and personal care for up to five people with a learning disability. The service also provides a day care service, which, while the Care Quality Commission does not regulate, it did provide us with the opportunity to meet people who use the short break service and talk with the staff who provide care across both services. At the time of our inspection there were no people using the short break service, however we were able to speak with people and their relatives of those who had stayed over the weekend period.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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 lived in a safe environment as staff knew how to protect people from harm. We found that staff recognised signs of abuse and knew how to report this. Staff made sure risk assessments were in place and took actions to minimise risks without taking away people’s right to make decisions.

People told us there were enough staff to help them when they needed them. Relatives and staff told us there were enough staff to provide safe care and support to people. Advanced planning meant that staffing levels were reviewed and reflected the needs of people who stayed at the service. People’s medicines were checked and managed in a safe way.

People received care and support that met their needs. Care and support was provided to people with prior consent and agreement. Staff understood and recognised the importance of this. We found people’s independence to eat a healthy balanced diet was promoted. People were supported with enough fluids to keep them healthy. We found that the service provision had close working relationships with external healthcare professionals, such as the learning disabilities nurse and people’s social worker.

We saw that people and their families were involved in the planning around their care. People’s views and decisions they had made about their care were listened and acted upon. We found that staff treated people kindly, with dignity and their privacy was respected.

Information was provided to people in how they could raise a complaint should this be required. Relatives told us that they would know how to make a complaint and felt comfortable to do this should they feel they needed to. Where the provider had received complaints, these had been responded to. While there were no patterns to the complaints, learning had been taken from complaints received and actions were put into place to address these.

The registered manager demonstrated clear leadership. Staff were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. We found the provider encouraged people’s learning and development and gave recognition where staff had made positive differences to people’s lives.

We found that the checks the registered manager completed focused upon the experiences people received. Sharing knowledge and improvements with the providers other services took place. Where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure that lessons were learnt and used to improve the service provision.

People who use the service stay overnight for varying lengths of time. At the time of our inspection we only met one person who had stayed for a period of time. Therefore we have not made any direct quotes for people who used the service. During our inspection we looked at a number of records for people who used the service.

We found people were respected and treated as individuals. Care workers knew about people's personal lives and personal preferences. People's needs had been assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.

People were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced care workers and there were appropriate levels of care workers to be able to meet people’s individual needs.

The provider made sure they carried out regular supervisions and team meetings. Care workers had also carried out relevant training to meet the specific needs of people who used the service.

The provider had a system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

The provider had a complaints procedure in place and we saw the provider had responded to complaints and had taken the appropriate action.

We last inspected the service on 16 January 2013 and found that the registered provider had not got an effective quality monitoring system in place. During this inspection we found improvements had been made.

We spoke with two people who spent time there, two care workers and the registered manager. People were able to express their views and had been involved in making decisions about their care and treatment.

People were complimentary about the care and support they received. One person told us, “They care for people, they are nice”. Another person said, “I love it here”.

People told us that they were treated with respect and that care workers maintained their privacy and dignity. People told us how they were supported where needed by care workers.

There were care workers on hand to provide care and support to people who required it. We saw care workers interacting with people throughout the day in conversation and activity sessions.

We found care workers respected people as individuals and knew about their personal lives, background and preferred choices. Care workers knew people’s current care needs and provided appropriate support.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken steps to ensure any potential instances of abuse could be identified and reported. Care workers we spoke with told us they felt supported by the provider to take the appropriate action where required.

We spoke with care workers who felt they had the correct training to be able to look after the care needs of people. We checked the systems in place to measure the quality of the care being delivered and the services that were being delivered.

People who use the service experience safe, effective and appropriate care that meets their needs and protects their rights.

People who use the service are supported in making choices about their care, treatment and support. People said they were happy with the support and choices they have.