About the service:

Peldon Campus provides care and support for four people in supported living accommodation. In addition to this, 17 people living on the campus live in a residential care home. People living on Peldon Campus have learning disabilities and may have mental health needs.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were safe living in the service. Risks had been identified and people told us they felt safe and well looked after.

Staff were kind and caring and supported people to be as independent as possible.

People had access to healthcare professionals when required.

Staff knew how to care for people. Staff used their skills and the resources and equipment provided so the risk of accidental harm or infections was reduced. People were supported to have their prescribed medicines they needed to remain well.

People were supported to eat and drink. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The registered manager had clear oversight of the service and worked alongside staff. Staff were respectful of the register manager and told us they were approachable and supportive.

We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of “Good” in all areas;

More information is available in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (The date of the last report published was 22 September 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive and will re-inspect as per our inspection programme or sooner if required.

Peldon Campus provides accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people who have a learning disability and autistic spectrum disorder. On the day of our inspection there were 21 people living on the campus which is divided into 4 separate houses accommodating between 3 to 10 people in each home supported by their own staff team.

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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associate Regulations about how the service is run.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which apply to care homes. We found the provider was following the MCA code of practice.

People were safe because staff supported them to understand how to keep safe and staff knew how to manage risk effectively. There were sufficient numbers of care staff on shift with the correct skills and knowledge to keep people safe. There were appropriate arrangements in place for medicines to be stored and administered safely.

Staff had good relationships with people who used the service and were attentive to their needs. People’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

Care plans were individual and contained information about how people preferred to communicate and their ability to make decisions.

People were encouraged to take part in activities that they enjoyed, and were supported to keep in contact with family members. When needed, they were supported to see health professionals and referrals were put through to ensure they had the appropriate care and treatment.

Relatives and staff were complimentary about the management of the service. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities in providing safe and good quality care to the people who used the service.

The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided.

We met with seven people who used the service to gain their views and experiences about the service they were provided with. Five people did not verbally communicate their views with us, so we observed their body language and reactions to staff engagement and interaction. We saw that people were smiling and laughing with staff and responding in a positive way to the interaction.

We spoke with two people who used the service. They told us that they were happy living in Peldon Campus. One person said, “I like it here, it is good." Another person said, “They (staff) help me keep my room tidy and neat. It is good here; they (staff) know what I like to do.”

We looked at six people's care records and found that they experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. Before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes.

The care records we looked at provided information for staff on how to meet people’s individual health and care needs. People’s choices and preferences were reflected and written in a way that promoted their independence

We spoke with four members of staff who told us they were being appropriately trained and supervised. We saw that the service provided enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.

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The records we looked at, including people's care records and staff records were accurate and up to date.

People that we spoke with during this inspection told us they were very happy with the care staff. In addition we observed a good interaction between the staff and the people living at Peldon Campus.

As part of this inspection we looked at the recruitment records for two people who had applied for a position and were due to be interviewed that week. We found that they had been requested to complete a comprehensive application form. The registered manager talked us through the interview process and the completion of the recruitment process for successful candidates, including following up references and gaps in employment. This confirmed that appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work.

Personal files included all the required documents such as staff references, Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks and various forms of personal identification. Application forms contained information about the individual's skills and previous work experience. This showed that the service had checked to make sure that that people were supported by staff who were suitably qualified.

People with whom we spoke confirmed that they were respected and involved by staff and if they required any assistance staff would respond promptly.

People with whom we spoke confirmed that they were satisfied with the care and treatment provided by staff. They felt able to approach staff if they had any concerns and were confident that these would be addressed appropriately. People told us that they enjoyed being in this service and that the staff were kind. Two people said that they enjoyed their bedrooms and one person reported that they were always doing something interesting.

We spoke to two sets of parents who were visiting and they were positive about the care and kindness shown by staff to their family member and the support that they received individually from the organisation. One person called it a home from home and reported on the individual positive progress being shown by their family member whilst they were receiving care in this home. Another person commented on the cultural support that was available for their family member and appreciated the efforts being made by the provider to meet these individual cultural needs.