231 Stafford Road is a care home without nursing which can provide personal care and accommodation for up to six adults. The service specialises in supporting younger and older people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders and physical disabilities. Several people who reside at the home are also living with dementia or have mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were six people residing at the home.

At the last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection on 14 July 2014, the overall rating for this service was Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good. The service demonstrated they continued to meet the regulations and fundamental standards.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was also responsible for managing another of the providers care homes.

People continued to be safe at 231 Stafford Road. There were robust procedures in place to safeguard people from harm and abuse. Staff were familiar with how to recognise and report abuse. The provider assessed and managed risks to people’s safety in a way that considered their individual needs. There were enough staff to keep people safe and recruitment procedures were designed to prevent people from being cared for by unsuitable staff. The premises and equipment were safe for people to use because staff routinely carried out health and safety checks. Medicines were managed safely and people received them as prescribed.

Staff received appropriate training and support to ensure they had the knowledge and skills needed to perform their roles effectively. People were supported to eat and drink enough to meet their dietary needs and food preferences. They also received the support they needed to stay healthy and to access healthcare services.

Staff were caring and treated people with dignity and respect and ensured people’s privacy was maintained particularly when being supported with their personal care needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People continued to receive personalised support that was responsive to their individual needs. Each person had an up to date, personalised care plan, which set out how their care and support needs should be met by staff. This meant people were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their needs, preferences and interests. Staff encouraged people to actively participate in leisure activities, pursue their social interests and to maintain relationships with people that mattered to them.

The registered manager, along with the deputy manager who was permanently based at the home, continued to provide good leadership. The service had an open and transparent culture. People felt comfortable raising any issues they might have about the home with staff. The service had arrangements in place to deal with people’s concerns and complaints appropriately. The provider also routinely gathered feedback from people living in the home, their relatives and staff. This feedback alongside the provider’s own audits and quality checks was used to continually assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service they provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which looks at the overall quality of the service. This was an unannounced inspection.

At our last inspection in September 2013 we found the service was meeting the regulations we looked at and did not identify any concerns about the care and support people who lived there received.

231 Stafford Road is a care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to five people with learning and physical disabilities. There were five people living at the home when we visited.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

People told us they were happy living at the home. They also told us staff were kind and caring, and our observations and discussions with relatives supported this. We saw staff treated people with dignity and respect. 

Staff were familiar with people’s individual needs and knew how to meet them. We saw staff had built up good working relationships with people who lived at the home. There were enough properly trained and well supported staff working at the home to meet people’s needs.   

People were involved in developing care plans, and we saw people were supported to make decisions about their care and support. People had access to their local community and could choose to participate in a range of fulfilling social activities. We saw staff encouraged and supported people to be as independent as they wanted to be.

There was a clear management structure in the home and people who lived there, relatives and staff felt comfortable about sharing their views and talking to managers if they had any concerns or ideas to improve the service. The manager and deputy manager demonstrated a good understanding of their role and responsibilities, and staff told us the managers were competent, supportive and fair. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service provided.

CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) which applies to care homes and hospitals. We found that the service was meeting the requirements of DoLS and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act.

Care Solutions Limited – 231 Stafford Road had five residents at the time of our inspection. People at the home had difficulties to express and communicate their views about the quality of the service. We talked with three people who used the service with the help from the manager and staff. We asked them if they liked living in the home and they said yes. One of the answers was a definite “Yes, thank you”. People also said that they liked the staff and that the staff were supportive and helped them a lot. People were also satisfied with the meals that were provided and said that they felt safe in the home.

People told us that they were involved in a variety of activities both in the home and the community. One person said they were going to a church on Sundays and played bowling on Fridays. Another person liked playing music on his keyboard and doing arts and crafts in his room and at the college. We observed during our inspection that people were treated kindly and with respect.

We saw that people had detailed person centred care plans and they were involved in the development of the plans. We found that people’s needs were identified; their care plans were available and were reviewed on a regular basis. People’s health was monitored and received medical attention when it was needed.

We found that the home was adequately staffed and staff had the qualification, skills and experience to support people according to their care plans to meet their needs.

During our inspection we met all five people who lived at the care home. People who were able to communicate with us told us they liked living at 231, Stafford Road and felt safe there. One person said “I like living here”, and another told us "I like my bedroom”.

People we spoke with told us the staff that worked at the home were kind and caring, and felt staff listened to them and took their views seriously. During our inspection we saw staff treated the people using the service with respect and dignity.

We saw staff encouraged people to make informed choices about how they lived their lives. For example, we observed staff providing people with appropriate support and infirmation to choose the meals they ate and the social activities they participated in.

We also saw staff encouraged people to maintain their independent living skills and to do as much for themselves as they could do safely.

We carried out this review of compliance because of concerning information that was shared with us about alleged on-going ‘institutional’ abuse within the service.

We found no evidence to substantiate any of the concerns identified in this safeguarding alert.

We received a lot of positive feedback from people who use the service about the staff who worked at 231 Stafford Road and the overall standard of care and support they were provided there. Typical comments people made included – “I am happy living here”, “staff are nice”, and “this is my home”. In addition to these comments visiting activities coordinators we also met on the day told us –“staff are always welcoming here” and “staff are all very friendly”.

We saw that staff generally relate well with the people that live at the home and on several occasions we observed staff taking their time to offer people a choice and listen to what they had to say. For example, we saw staff asking people what they would like to eat for their lunch.

The feedback we received from people about the opportunities they had to pursue their social interests and hobbies was also very positive - Typical comments included - "we do lots of things with staff”, “staff take me out”, and “the man who plays music is coming later – I like that”. Furthermore, during the course of the inspection we observed the services staff and visiting activities coordinators actively encourage and support the people who use the service participate in a wide variety of stimulating social and educational activities, both in-house and in the wider community.

Everyone we spoke to about the quality and choice of the meals on offer said they were happy. Typical comments we received included -”I like the food here” and “the food is great”.

People were also complimentary about the way their bedrooms had been decorated and furnished. Comments included - “I like my bedroom – I picked the colour it was painted myself”, “ive got some new furniture, which I like”. Visiting activity coordinators told us 231 Stafford Road felt ‘homely’. During a tour of the premises we saw that the home is generally well maintained and in the main decorated to a satisfactory standard. The main communal areas looked comfortable and the atmosphere in the open plan lounge/dinning area always felt relaxed and welcoming.

The service looked and smelt fresh and clean.