At the last inspection in July 2015, the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection, the service continued to be good.

2 Ellys Road is a respite service registered to provide accommodation to a maximum of ten people with learning disabilities for a short period of time. There were four people staying at the service at the time of our inspection.

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.

The provider had aims and values for the service, which were clearly communicated with people who used the service. Our observations demonstrated this aim was being achieved. This was because the staff team demonstrated their commitment to continually supporting people to maintain and gain new skills to be as independent as possible.

People liked the staff who provided their care. Staff demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of people's needs and we saw they were skilled and confident in their practice. Staff behaviours and attitude to their work, showed they knew people they cared for well. People’s right to privacy was respected and people were treated in a dignified way.

People and their relatives were involved in the planning of their care. Staff had spent time with people and their families to get to know them. The information gathered was recorded in people’s care plans which detailed the goals people wanted to achieve during their stay at the service.

People and their relatives felt safe when they used the service. On the day of our visit there were enough staff on duty to support people safely. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks associated with people’s care. Detailed risk assessments and management plans were in place for staff to follow to keep people safe.

Procedures were in place to protect people from harm. The provider's recruitment procedures minimised, as far as possible, the risks to people safety. The environment was well maintained and regular checks of the equipment in use took place to make sure it was safe. Staff were knowledgeable of the evacuation procedures they needed to follow should an emergency occur.

Accident and incident records were completed and a system was in place to analyse the records to reduce further incidents occurring.

People’s medicines were stored and managed safely. People told us they enjoyed the food and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of people's nutritional needs, likes and dislikes.

People had been assessed and had capacity to make decisions. Staff had a good understanding of the principles of the MCA. The registered manager was aware of the process that needed to be followed if a person’s liberty was being deprived.

People were supported to follow their personal hobbies and interests and were encouraged to join in with social activities at the service. People maintained positive links with their community.

People and their relatives were happy with how the service was run and were encouraged to be involved in the running of the service. They had opportunities to put forward their ideas and suggestions to drive forward improvements. The management team were responsive to the feedback provided.

People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint and told us they comfortable doing so.

The registered manager felt supported by the senior leadership team. Staff enjoyed working at the service. They received regular supervision of their work and felt supported by their managers. Team meetings took place and staff confirmed they had opportunities to contribute items to the agenda.

The management team completed regular checks of different aspects of the service. This was to highlight any issues in the quality of the care provi

This inspection took place on 13 July 2015. The inspection was unannounced.

Ellys Road is registered to provide accommodation to a maximum of ten people. Life Path Trust is a charitable organisation that offers a range of services to people with learning disabilities. Ellys Road is a respite service providing accommodation to people with learning disabilities for a short period of time. It enables people to access supported activities and holidays away from their own home. There were five people staying at the service at the time of our inspection.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager at the service. We refer to the registered manager as the manager in the body of this report.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with staff at Ellys Road, and that staff treated them well. Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe and protect them from abuse, they were confident the manager would act appropriately to protect people from harm.

The provider had recruitment procedures in place that made sure staff were of a suitable character to care for people safely. There were enough staff to support people safely, and staff had the support and training they required to effectively meet the needs of people who used the service.

Medicines were stored and administered safely, and people received their prescribed medicines as intended. People received healthcare that met their needs.

People and their relatives thought staff were kind and responsive. People enjoyed taking part in interests and hobbies that met their individual needs and preferences. People who stayed at Ellys Road maintained links with friends and family who visited them at the home when invited, and people’s privacy and dignity was respected.

Management and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and supported people in line with these principles. People were able to make everyday decisions themselves, which helped them to maintain their independence.

Staff, people and their relatives felt the manager was approachable. Positive communication was encouraged and identified concerns were acted upon by the manager and provider. Staff were supported by the manager through regular meetings.

People told us they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. The provider monitored complaints to identify any trends and patterns, and made changes to the service in response to complaints.

People were supported to develop the service they received by providing feedback in a number of ways including quality assurance questionnaires and discussion groups. The provider acted on the feedback they received to improve things.

There were procedures in place to check the quality of care people received, and where issues had been identified the provider acted to make improvements.

Life Path Trust is a charitable organisation that offers a range of services to people with learning disabilities. 2 Ellys Road is a respite service providing accommodation to people with learning disabilities. It enables people to access supported activities and holidays away from their own home.

We visited the service unannounced on a weekday morning. There were five people staying at the home at the time of our visit. We met and talked with them. We spoke to four members of staff.

We looked at health and care plans of three people who used the service. We saw a person centred approach had been used in drawing up care plans. Care plans were tailored to the needs of each individual. Before staying at the home an assessment had been completed which included the person's personal goals, support requirements, likes and dislikes. Care plans included information regarding health, diet, communication, and behaviour.

The service had a policy in place for safeguarding vulnerable adults. Staff told us and records showed that all staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults from abuse.

We saw staff had a good rapport with people who used services. People told us they got on well with staff. One person told us "I like it here." Another person said, "All the staff are great."

We saw that the service had good monitoring procedures in place. These ensured the service was meeting the required standards.

Life Path Trust is a charitable organisation that offers a range of services to people with learning disabilities. 2 Ellys Road is a respite service providing accommodation to people with learning disabilities. It enables them to access supported activities and holidays away from their own home.

We visited the service unannounced on a weekday morning. There were eight people staying at the home at the time of our visit. We met and talked to four people using the service. The other four were taking part in external activities and we were unable to speak with them. We spoke to three members of staff during our visit.

We looked at health and care plans of three people who used the service. We saw a person centred approach had been used in drawing up care plans. This is an approach based on what each individual person wants and needs.

The service had a policy in place for safeguarding vulnerable adults. Staff told us and records showed that all staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults from abuse.

We observed staff had a good rapport with people who used services. People told us they got on well with staff. One person told us "We get on well with the staff. I like it here." One member of staff told us “I love it here. The satisfaction I get from my job is immeasurable.”

We saw that the service had good monitoring procedures in place. These ensured the service was meeting the required standards.

On the day of the visit on 12 October 2011, we spoke with all of the people currently staying in the home and the staff. There were no visitors in the home on the day of the visit.

We observed how staff offered people care and how staff spoke with them. We looked at how staff treated them to ensure that they were treated with dignity, were able to stay as independent as possible and if they were offered privacy.

We found that staff treated people kindly and respectfully and demonstrated that they knew them as individuals and understood their personal needs.

People living in the home, who were able to do so, told us that they were happy with the care they received. “It’s good here; the staff look after you if you get worried.”

We asked them about the staff and how they were with them. They said “we love Tina (the manager) and the rest of the staff.”

We looked at the kinds of activities and events that happened in the service and asked people about how they spent their day. People told us about going to colleges and other day centres and how they were learning new skills.

We saw that people took part in daily and evening activities, they assisted where able with cleaning, and tidying, laundry, cooking, shopping and washing up.

People told us they liked the food provided and that they were happy with their rooms and the level of cleanliness in the home. They said that if they wanted to complain about anything, that the staff always talked to them about what was wrong and took action.

One person staying at the home said “There is nothing wrong and nothing to change. They respect our wishes and we respect them.”