About the service:

Morris House is a residential care home providing personal care and support to six people aged under 65 at the time of the inspection.

The care service had not originally been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. The home had been registered before such guidance was produced. The guidance focussed on values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion so that people with learning disabilities and autism using a service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. However, it was clear that people living in Morris House were given such choices and their independence and participation within the local community had been and was continuing to be encouraged and enabled.

Peoples experience of using this service:

People who used the service continued to be supported in a safe way. Staff were kind and compassionate and knew people well. People received their medicines safely: other aspects of people's safety were promoted.

Potential risks to people had been assessed and managed to lessen any risks on people’s daily lives.

The home continued to have effective systems in place to check that the service was effectively managed and that people had a good quality of life. People were supported by staff who were well trained and keen to help people live fulfilled lives.

The registered manager shared the provider’s clear vision of how people were to be supported. They shared this enthusiasm with staff who supported this way of working.

The home continued to meet the characteristics of good in all areas; more information is available in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

The home was rated Good (report published in March 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.

This inspection took place on 7 January 2016 and was unannounced. The previous inspection was in July 2013 where we found that regulations had been met. The home was providing accommodation and personal care for six people with learning disabilities and /or autistic spectrum disorders.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of the 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 were safe from abuse because staff knew how to recognise signs that would show that people may be at risk. They knew to report concerns to their manager and which agencies they should report any concerns to if they were not satisfied with the response. Risk assessments and management plans were in place. These identified actions staff needed to take to protect individual people from risks associated with their specific conditions and of any challenges to themselves and other people. People were supported to manage some of their medicines themselves if appropriate otherwise medicines were safely administered. Medicines were appropriately stored and managed and this helped to keep people well.

People were supported by enough staff to keep them safe and for them to receive support when they wanted. The majority of staff had worked at the home for a long time. Robust recruitment processes and monitoring of new staff was in place to ensure that people remained safe. People were happy with how staff supported them. Staff demonstrated that they had the skills and knowledge to ensure people were supported effectively and safely.

The registered manager and staff we spoke with were knowledgeable of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff sought consent from people before providing support and people were in control of the support they needed. Where decisions had to be made for people their rights had been protected as restrictions had only been imposed following a legal process.

People were supported to have a choice of suitable food and drink that met their health needs. Where necessary arrangements had been made for people to have advice about their nutrition. Staff supported people to access routine checks from health professionals to keep people physically and mentally as well as possible. In addition staff acted quickly when people’s health deteriorated.

People were happy about the relationships they had with the staff that supported them. Involved relatives and social and health professionals told us they felt welcome when they visited the home.

The registered manager and staff went to exceptional lengths to ensure that people were able to follow their interests, hobbies, maintained links with their families and had access to preferred social activities. This had resulted in improvements in the well-being of people who were as a result then and more comfortable to accessing a wider range of activities and at sufficient ease to enjoy greater levels of interaction with other people.

People did not have any complaints about the support they received. People, relatives and one social care and one health care professional told us that the home was well led by the registered manager. There were systems in place for the registered manager to check the quality of the service day to day and monitor for any trends in how the home was operating over a longer period. Records were well kept and all the staff were able to access information quickly.

We spoke with four people that lived in the home and they were all happy with the care that was given in the home. People told us: "Yes it is good here the staff listen to you, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else" and "I am happy here, the staff are really good."

We looked at two people's care records and these provided good information about people's care needs and how these were going to be met. There was enough information for care staff to be able to identify when a person's physical and mental health needs were changing. People's care and health was reviewed regularly. People were assisted appropriately to receive their medication. A health care professional told us that staff monitored a person well and were knowledgeable about a person's health condition. They told us they had seen great improvements in the person's well being.

People who lived in the home were encouraged to talk about their concerns and where possible assisted to resolve them. Although people were supported to be as independent as possible appropriate steps were taken to ensure that people were kept safe from identifiable risks of harm.

There were six people living in the home when we visited; we talked to two people about their experience of living there.

The people we spoke with told us they were happy with the standards of care and support they were receiving. They made the following comments:

“I love living here.”

“It’s lovely here; it’s the best home I’ve ever lived in.”

“I went to Nottingham on the train on Saturday.”

“Just been for a walk and got some money out.”

“We went to the pub in Solihull yesterday.”

“Staff are good; x is a brilliant manager.”

“Yesterday I had chicken, cabbage and carrots, I sometimes have a take away.”

People told us they felt safe living in the home. We saw that staff spoke to people in a respectful way and were patient whilst people made decisions about going out.