This inspection took place on 11 October 2016 and was an unannounced inspection. It was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Southdown Housing Association - 28 Southdown Road specialises in providing care and support to adults who have a learning disability, autism and/or a physical disability. Accommodation is arranged at ground floor level and the home can accommodate up to seven people. All bedrooms are for single occupancy and the home is staffed 24 hours a day.

The people we met with had very complex physical and learning disabilities and were unable to tell us about their experiences of life at the home. We therefore used our observations of care and our discussions with staff to help form our judgements.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Staff morale was good and people were comfortable with the staff who supported them. The atmosphere in the home was very relaxed. It was evident that staff knew people very well and were committed to ensuring people received the care and support they needed as well as a fulfilling life.

Staffing levels were good and people also received good support from health and social care professionals. Staff were confident and competent when assisting and interacting with people.

There were effective policies and procedures in place to reduce the risk of harm or abuse to the people who lived at the home and these were understood and followed by staff.

People contributed to the assessment and planning of their care as far as they were able. Care plans showed that people and their relatives attended person centred reviews where they could discuss the care and support their relative received.

People were always asked for their consent before staff assisted them with any tasks and staff knew the procedures to follow to make sure peoples legal and human rights were protected.

People were unable to look after their own medicines. Staff made sure medicines were stored securely and there were sufficient supplies of medicines. People received their medicines when they needed them.

Routines in the home were flexible and were based around the needs and preferences of the people who lived there. People were able to plan their day with staff and they were supported to access a range of social and leisure activities in the home and local community.

The service made sure staff completed appropriate training so they could meet the needs of the people they supported. The knowledge, skills and competency of staff were regularly monitored through supervisions and observation of their practice. Staff told us they felt well supported and received the training they needed.

There were systems in place to monitor health and safety and the quality of the service provided to people. Results of a recent satisfaction survey had been very positive. One comment included “The staff are extremely caring. We could not have wished for a more suitable place for [name of person] to live. I cannot thank the staff enough.” Another relative commented “A big thank you to all the staff for the care they gave [person’s name] during a recent illness.”

In this report the registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulatory activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a registered manager on our register at the time.

During our inspection we observed staff working with people who use the service and spoke with four members of staff. They were the senior support worker and three support workers. We also looked at review records and meeting records to help us understand the views of the people who use the service.

Staff we spoke with felt they worked well together as a team. One person told us “we work extremely well as a team and support each other”. Another person told us “we genuinely care for the people who live here and we are a happy home“.

We looked at care plans and staff records and observed levels of staff. We saw the service had enough experienced and skilled staff to meet the people’s needs.

Direct observation throughout the visit demonstrated that staff promoted choices and encouraged independence. People who used the service had comfortable and positive relationships with staff. We saw genuine interaction and empathy demonstrated that enabled people to live a full life. From observation it was demonstrated that people recognised staff, enjoyed their company and responded positively to the interaction. We saw that people had developed friendships with each other and staff supported this positively. People's life histories had identified that that some people living in the home had lived in placements before and their friendships were supported.

We observed staff interacting positively with people. Where appropriate, specialist advice and support was obtained to meet people's needs. People were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines. There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty and staff told us they felt well supported. Staff were clear about what they should do if they suspected abuse or any concerns.

People who use this service were not able to verbalise comments about the outcomes.

Observation throughout the visit demonstrated that staff promoted choices and encouraged independence.

People using the service had a warm and comfortable relationship with staff who they were happy to engage with. From observation it was demonstrated that people using the service enjoyed the company of staff and responded positively to their contact.