About the service: Queen Alexandra College is a residential home. It provides accommodation and personal care for up to 51 people with a visual impairment, autism and learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection there were 28 people living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service: People felt safe and happy living at Queen Alexandra College. The service met its aims of developing people’s independent skills through person centred programmes. People had choice and control over their lives.

Care plans were person centred. People were supported to enhance their social networks and experience different leisure opportunities.

Individual risks and health support needs were identified, and guidance was in place to support people safely whilst maximising independence.

The environment was clean. The provider acknowledged improvements to the building and technology accessibility were required and had a strategy to develop this.

People enjoyed the food at the service and were encouraged to be involved in cooking and preparing meals.

People were encouraged to be involved in the development of the service through meetings, groups and surveys.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. These were reviewed to ensure that quality was continually improved.

For more details, please see the full report which is on CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: Good (June 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. We will inspect in line with our inspection programme or sooner if required.

This inspection took place on 17 May 2016 and was unannounced. When we last inspected this service in January 2014 we found it compliant with all the regulations we looked at.

Queen Alexandra College is a specialist college which also provides accommodation to students who have learning and or physical disabilities in four homes on site. The home is registered with the Commission to provide care for up to 51 people. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people living in the homes. Additionally the service offers respite care however there was no one using this service when we visited. There was a registered manager at this location. 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 who used the service and their relatives told us that the home was safe. Staff were aware of the need to keep people safe and they knew how to raise concerns through the provider’s whistle blowing policy.

People were supported to have their medication as prescribed because there was clear procedures and guidance for staff. There were systems for checking that medication had been managed and stored in the correct way.

People told us that they were very happy with how staff supported them. We saw that people were relaxed around staff. People had opportunities to participate in a range of activities they enjoyed in the homes and community.

People and, where appropriate, their relatives, were consulted about their preferences and people were treated with dignity and respect. There were extensive communication aids available to help people express their views.

Staff working at the homes understood the needs of the people who lived there. We saw that staff communicated well with each other and spoke highly of the management and leadership they received.

People were helped and supported to plan and coordinate their transition between services.

People were supported by staff who were appropriately trained, skilled and supervised. Records contained detailed information for staff to meet people’s specific needs however record keeping processes were not consistent between the homes.

When appropriate the registered manager had involved other health professionals in making best interest decisions about people’s support needs. The provider knew what action to take to provide care in the least restrictive way.

People were supported to have their healthcare needs met and were encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Staff sought and took advice from relevant health professionals when needed. We saw people had been supported by the provider’s own on site health services.

People were supported to prepare and eat meals of their choosing. Staff knew how to support people who needed specific diets to maintain their health.

There was effective leadership from the registered manager to ensure that staff were well motivated and enthusiastic. The registered manager assessed and monitored the quality of care consistently through regular audits of events and practice.

The college provides learning opportunities for people with visual impairment and other disabilities (such as Autistic Spectrum, Asperger’s syndrome, moderate learning difficulties and physical disabilities). Many of the students live on the campus.

On the day of our inspection 42 students were living at the college. We spoke to five students who lived there, three of their relatives and four staff.

Student’s needs were assessed and care and support was planned in line with individual care plans. We found that each person had their own individual care plan which included assessed needs, risk assessments and useful information about any health conditions they had.

It was apparent that care staff were attentive, polite and students were treated with respect and dignity. Students were complimentary about the care staff who supported them. Comments included, "The carers are nice."

Students were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to prevent abuse from happening. We noted that the majority of staff had received training in relation to safeguarding vulnerable adults.

We found that there were good systems in place for assessing and monitoring the performance of the residential accommodation at the college and for addressing shortfalls.

We concluded that there was effective leadership at all levels to ensure safe, effective, caring and responsive care was being delivered within a culture that was open and fair.

The college provides tempoary accommodation whilst people are being supported in attending edcucation courses that improves their knowledge and life skills. The aim is to increase people's independence and if they wish to, secure employment.

People who used the service told us that they were happy with the support and training they received. We were told that people who used the facilities could make choices about the type of training they wished to undertake.

They also said that they were encouraged in developing their daily living skills to improve their independence. People we spoke with said:

“It has been a challenge, a centre of excellence.”

“I like to go out to the park.”

“It has been good” (accommodation).

“Yes, I do” (contact with their family), I stay with mum and dad”

“Increased my independence. If it was not for this college I would not have done train journeys.”

“I like going to the gym, good exercise.”

People told us that staff were supportive and respectful. We received the following comments:

“Staff are good, one can have a laugh with them and talk about football.”

“Have supported me and can relate to.”

“Staff ask what you want to do on any particular day.”

“Really supportive and helpful, good sense of humour and can have a laugh with them.”

On the day of our unannounced visit, 43 people were living in the residential accommodation at the college. We subsequently spoke to four people who use the service, four of their relatives and four members of care staff.

We found the residential accommodation to be clean, homely and comfortable. Care was provided in an environment that was safe, accessible and adequately maintained.

People were complimentary about the care staff who supported them. Comments included,” They are really good to me, the staff treat me with respect."

From our observations it was apparent that care staff were attentive, polite and sought consent before providing care and support. We spoke to relatives of people who lived at the home and they were equally complimentary about the staff and the care being provided.

We examined care plans and found that people’s needs were properly assessed and delivered in line with their individual care plans.

We spoke to care staff and checked their personnel files and training records. We concluded that people who used services were safe and their health and welfare needs were being met by staff who were fit, appropriately qualified and competent.

We found that the college had a complaints policy and that complaints were recorded and investigated competently. We concluded that people who use services could be confident that their comments and complaints were listened to and dealt with effectively.