About the service:

Westacres is a residential care home, providing personal care and accommodation for six people who may have a learning disability and or complex/physical health needs. At time of our inspection six people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were safe living in the service. Risks had been identified and people were looked after safely.

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 they risk of accidental harm or infections was reduced. Staff had developed effective skills to meet he complex needs of the people at the service.

People were supported to have their prescribed medicines safely 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 registered manager and told us they were approachable and supportive.

We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of a “Good” rating in all areas; More information is available in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (The date of the last report published was 27 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 this service in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.

We inspected Westacres on the 31 August 2016 the inspection was unannounced.

The service provides accommodation and support for up to six people with learning disabilities. There were six people living at the service at the time of our inspection. Due to their complex needs some people found it difficult to communicate with us verbally. To help us gather views we also spoke with people’s relatives.

The service has 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.

People were cared for by staff that had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks were completed. There were enough staff available to support people.

Records were regularly updated and staff were provided with the information they needed to meet people’s needs. People's care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.

Staff and the registered manager were able to explain to us what they would do to keep people safe and how they would protect their rights. Staff had been provided with training in safeguarding adults from abuse, Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People were relaxed in the company of staff. Staff were able to demonstrate they knew people well. Staff were attentive to people's needs and treated people with dignity and respect.

People who used the service were provided with the opportunity to participate in activities which interested them, these activities were diverse to meet people’s social needs.

The service worked well with other professionals to ensure that people's health needs were met. Where appropriate, support and guidance was sought from health care professionals, including people’s G.Ps, psychiatrist and the learning disability team.

Relatives knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint, any complaints were resolved efficiently and quickly.

The manager had a number of ways of gathering views on the service including using questionnaires and talking with people, staff and relatives.

The manager and provider carried out a number of quality monitoring audits to ensure the service was running effectively. These included audits on medication management and the environment.

On the day of our inspection there were five people living in the service. When we arrived four people were at home eating their lunch. One person was at a local day centre, returning later in the afternoon. We spoke with all five people who told us that they were happy living at Westacres and that the staff were nice and treated them well. One person commented “Yes it is alright here, staff are nice to me, they are alright”.

We observed the care and support provided to the people using the service. Staff were professional in their approach, as well as friendly, caring and respectful of people’s needs. Staff were respectful of people's privacy and dignity. The staff had a good knowledge of the needs of the people using the service and responded promptly to people’s requests for assistance.

Two people told us they had been food shopping in the morning, however we found that there was limited activities taking place. We observed that the four people who had been eating lunch when we arrived sat in the lounge with the television on throughout the afternoon. When the person who had been at the day centre arrived home, they too were sat in the lounge. The two staff on duty were also sat watching television. There was limited engagement or encouragement to be involved in any type of activity as a group or individually.

People with whom we spoke, told us that they were satisfied with the staff, the food and their activities. They told us that they were able to choose their new furniture and that they helped to make up their support plan. Some people accessed the community independently, others told us that staff supported them in accessing the local and wider community, so that they could take part in their chosen interests and activities. People also told us that they were satisfied with the way the home is run and with staff attitudes towards them.

During our visit we spoke with people who used the service and they told us that they were happy living at Westacres. One person said, "They are all good to me, they help me." We saw that people who used the service were treated with respect and staff interactions were friendly and caring.

We saw that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. We saw people were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.

We saw that people who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. We saw that the provider had an effective complaints procedure in place.