St Martins Care Centre is registered with CQC as a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service provides residential and nursing care. The service can accommodate up to nine people aged 18 - 25 years of age with physical disabilities and associated learning disabilities. The People are not resident in the home full time and stay for short overnight breaks away from their main home.

There were two registered managers for the service. 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.'

The registered managers, the leadership team and the staff were highly committed and passionate about providing an outstanding standard of care and support that was unique for each person, creative and very personalised. This enthusiasm and commitment was reflected in the excellent outcomes for each person when they stayed at the service.

Medicines were managed safely. Medicines were stored safely and the team were given relevant training so that they knew their responsibilities in relation to the secure and safe management of people's medicines.

People continued to receive a highly effective service. Staff met people’s needs and were well trained and supported in their roles. Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This meant people’s legal rights were fully upheld when they stayed at the service. People were well supported to eat and drink the meals and drinks they enjoyed. Healthy eating options were also encouraged.

The service was caring. The staff were very kind and caring to everyone they supported. This was also reflected in the extremely positive feedback that people, relatives and professionals gave us about how exceptionally caring the service was. People experienced very positive and caring interactions with all the staff team. The team showed they were compassionate and very knowledgeable and insightful about people's unique and very complex needs.

There was a very strong commitment to ensuring people received care based on best practice guidance, with the aim of achieving the best possible outcomes. The management team encouraged people, their relatives and staff to share their opinions and ideas for any improvements that could be made.

The service continued to be exceptionally responsive. This was seen in the way the team demonstrated a total commitment to providing outstanding support, which put people at the centre of everything. People were able to live their life’s as they wanted to and were constantly very well supported to try new activities, events and visit social venues.

The service was well led. This was evidenced in numerous ways. People who stayed at the service benefitted from strong, clear and passionate leadership. The registered managers and senior manager were all passionate about providing person centred care. This ethos was reflected in every aspect of the service. The registered managers, supported by the senior management team, was continuously looking at ways to improve the service even more. These values that were fully embedded into the team were for the clear benefit of the people who stayed at the service.

Staff told us they were proud to work at the service. The team told us both registered managers were very supportive and they were given plenty of opportunities for professional development. The registered managers had developed warm, close very positive working relationships with staff and other stakeholders. The registered managers encouraged and motivated the staff team with re

This inspection took place on 8 October 2015 and was unannounced. The previous inspection of St Martin’s Centre was on 24 September 2013. At that time there were no breaches of the legal requirements.

The St Martin’s Centre is registered as a care home with nursing for up to nine young people aged between 18-25 years of age. Since the last inspection the service has increased from four to nine beds, in response to increased demand. The accommodation is in two bungalows, one with five bedrooms and the other with four. The young people do not reside permanently at St Martin’s Centre but use the service for planned overnight, up to three nights or weekend short break stays. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting a total of 13 young people with short stay ‘residential’ breaks, and others with day services. The service is located on the site of the St Rose’s School and is only available during the term time.

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.

The safety of each young person was paramount at all times as they relied totally upon the staff to keep them safe. Staff received safeguarding adults and children training and were knowledgeable about safeguarding issues. They knew what to do if concerns were raised and who to report the concerns to. Pre-employment checks were robust and ensured that unsuitable workers could not be employed to work in the service. Medicines were managed safely. There were stringent procedures in place to account for all medicines being brought in to, and out of the service.

Risks to the young people’s health and welfare were assessed and appropriately managed. Plans were in place to reduce or eliminate the risks where needed. There was a high staffing ratio in order to meet each young person’s care and support needs. Extra staffing was arranged to enable staff to support the young people with social activities.

Staff were well supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities. They received regular training and supervision. New staff had an induction training programme to complete and there was a programme of refresher training for the rest of the staff. Care staff were encouraged to complete nationally recognised qualifications in health and social care.

The young people were supported to make their own choices and decisions where possible. Staff understood the need for consent and what to do where people lacked the capacity to make decisions. Senior staff were aware of the pinciples of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

Young people were provided with sufficient food and drink or were supported to receive the nutritional supplements they required. The staff worked in partnership with the parents to ensure the young people’s healthcare needs were met.

Each young person received a service that was kind, caring and compassionate and met their needs. They and their family said they were well looked after. The staff team had good friendly relationships with the young people they were looking after. The young people were able to participate in a range of different activities and supported to attend activities in the community.

The young people and their parents had a say about how they were looked after and they were encouraged to raise any concerns they may have. Care records were kept for each person and provided information about how the planned care was to be provided.

A range of measures were in place to audit and monitor the quality and safety of the service. Action plans were developed where improvements and changes were required.

St Martin’s Centre was used each week by five young people. Three bedrooms were used by individuals who stayed in the home for planned one to three nights per week. The fourth shared bedroom was used by two people but only one stayed at any time. Another person visited the centre for the day and was supported by care staff. Youngsters from the school were in and out during the day. St Martin’s Centre was very lively, friendly and caring on the day we visited.

Young people were supported to make their own decisions regarding their daily lives. Decisions about how care was delivered and more complex decisions were formulated with a young person’s representatives. Assessment and care planning took account of individual needs, choices and preferences. Young people were supported to take their medicines and the home had safe procedures in place to ensure that medicines were managed correctly.

We watched what was going on in the home and observed positive interactions between young people and the staff. Staff communicated with people verbally or used sign language with those with hearing impairment and learning disabilities.

Effective systems were in place to reduce the risk and spread of any infection. Young people were cared for in a clean, hygienic environment. We found high standards of cleanliness.

No complaints had been raised with us prior to or during the inspection about the service. All records we looked at were in order and fit for purpose.

The St Martin’s Centre was used by four young people (one person was a day time visitor) who stayed at the centre on a part time basis and spend the rest of the time with their families. Those young people we met were not able to tell us how they were treated or whether they were involved in making decisions about their care. This was because they had learning disabilities and a lack of verbal communication skills. We spent some time during our visit observing routines and looking at how the staff interacted with the person they were looking after. We found that the people who used the service were involved as much as possible in making choices.

People received the care and support they needed because assessment and care planning processes ensured that all identified care needs had resulted in a management plan being drawn up. These plans set out how the care was to be delivered, how many staff were needed and what equipment was required.

We spent time with two people and their care staff during our inspection and found that there was a kind, friendly and loving approach at all times. We also observed other therapy staff and care staff interacting with people at times during the day.