We inspected this service on 11 November 2016. This was an unannounced inspection. At our previous inspection in November 2013 we found that the service met the legal requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The service is a residential college for young adults and is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people. People who use the service have a learning disability and or other disabilities, such as; communication or mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection eight people were using the service.

The service had 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People described staff as going ‘the extra mile’ when they provided care and support. People were treated with care, kindness and respect and staff promoted people’s independence and right to privacy.

People were supported to establish and maintain friendships and relationships. People’s individual communication needs were considered during care planning and care provision. The provider’s inclusive attitude to training enabled people who used the service to become trained in a specific communication method that some people who used the service depended on to communicate. This meant people could communicate effectively with each other.

Staff understood how to keep people safe and people were involved in the assessment and management of risks to their health, safety and wellbeing. People’s medicines were managed safely.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because staff knew how to recognise and report potential abuse. Safe staffing levels were maintained to promote people’s safety and to ensure people participated in activities of their choosing.

Staff received regular training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs.

Staff supported people to make decisions about their care and when people were unable to make these decisions for themselves, the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were followed.

People could eat meals that met their individual preferences. People’s health and wellbeing needs were monitored and people were supported to attend both urgent and routine health appointments as required.

People were involved in the assessment and review of their care and staff supported and encouraged people to access the community and participate in activities that met their personal preferences.

Staff sought and listened to people’s views about the care and action was taken to make improvements to care. People understood how to complain about their care and we saw that complaints were managed in accordance with the provider’s complaints procedure.

Systems were in place to enable people to move from this service to other services in a planned and coordinated manner.

The management team regularly assessed and monitored the quality of care to ensure standards were met and maintained.

The registered manager understood the requirements of their registration with us and they and the provider kept up to date with changes in health and social care regulation.

During our inspection we spoke with four people who used the service, five members of staff and the registered manager.

People told us they were happy living at Park View. One person said, “We’re all mates here. We make cups of tea for each other and we help each other”. Another person said, “The staff spend time with us. They are very sociable”.

We saw that people’s independence was promoted and people were treated with respect. There were effective systems in place to ensure that people could access food and drink safely.

The home was well led. We observed people being treated with care and compassion, by staff who had received training and support to enable them to meet people’s individual needs. We saw that staff were responsive to people’s changing needs, because support plans were updated as people’s needs changed.

The home was suitably designed to meet the needs of the people who used the service. Effective systems were in place to check that the building was safe and in good condition.

We saw that there was a suitable system in place to manage complaints, and people who used the service were aware of the complaints procedure.

During our inspection we spoke to six people who used the service and two of their relatives. People told us they enjoyed living at Park View. One person said, “It’s nice here and the staff are friendly”. Relatives we spoke with told us they were happy with the care provided. One relative said, “The staff are very good and they understand my relative very well”.

We saw that people’s consent was gained before receiving any care and treatment, and staff were able to use different communication skills, to enable every person living at Park View to be included in the consent process.

People told us about their weekly schedules which focussed on community involvement and the development of life skills. We saw that the staffing numbers enabled people to be supported to receive and participate in their planned care.

We saw that people received their care in a positive and caring manner, and people received support from staff to take their medicines as prescribed by their clinicians.

People’s care records and staff records were stored securely and were up to date, accurate and fit for purpose. Records were accessible to staff, which meant they could be readily accessed in the event of an emergency situation.

We carried out this inspection because we had not visited the service for some time and we did not have enough information to assess compliance. We wanted to see what life was like for the people who lived in the home. At the time of our visit there were nine people resident at Park View.

People are usually placed at Park View for up to three years. The focus of the college is to promote and prepare people to be as independent as they can be. People using the service are known as learners, we have referred to them as such throughout our report.

An expert by experience took part in this inspection and talked to learners. An expert by experience is some one who uses services, or has had experience of services. They are people of all ages, with different experiences and from diverse cultural backgrounds. They help us improve the way we inspect and write our reports. Our expert by experience talked to learners individually, looked at what happened around the home and saw how everyone was getting on together and what the home felt like. They took some notes and wrote a report about what they found and details are included in this report. Their comments included, "The main rooms were large and bright and some were being re-painted, with doors altered to accommodate wheelchairs. The bedrooms were all individually furnished by learners and were tidy, inviting and homely. The kitchen was large and clean with excellent signage. The dining room was bright and airy."

Before we visited the service we spoke to other agencies that had an interest in the service such as fire safety officers, environmental health, local authority social workers and quality monitoring officers and LINks. LINks are groups of individual members of the public and local voluntary and community groups who work together to improve health and social care services. To do this they gather the views of local people. No concerns were identified by any of these agencies.

During our visit we spoke to learners and staff and observed interactions between them. We saw that learners using the service were confident in their surroundings and were able to access all areas of the home freely, subject to risk assessment. Learners told us, "I like to do as much for myself as I can, I cook my own tea and sometimes do it with other learners." Another learner said, "Staff help me to do the things I need to do, I like the staff here."

Following our visit we spoke to a relative who commented "I can't praise them enough for how they have supported both me and my relative. I get so excited about visiting the home because each time I can see the progress my relative has made."