Wood Way Lodge provides accommodation for up to four people with learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were four people living in the home. At the last inspection, in July 2014, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service remained Good.

People continued to receive care in ways which helped them to remain as safe as possible. There was enough staff to provide support to people to meet their needs. The registered manager had recently appointed a deputy who regularly spent time at the home. Staff understood risks to people’s safety and supported people receive their prescribed medicines safely.

Staff received training which matched the needs of people who lived at the home, so they would develop the skills and knowledge to care for them. People made day to day decisions about their care and staff used their skills to make sure people were agreeing to the care offered to them. Support was available to people if they needed help making key decisions about their life. People were cared for so their nutritional needs were met and to stay well through assistance to access to health care.

People enjoyed spending time with the staff who cared for them and were encouraged to make their own day to day decisions and maintain their independence. People were treated with dignity.

People, their relatives’ and health and social care professionals’ views and suggestions were listened when care was planned. No complaints had been made since our previous inspection, however, systems were in place to manage complaints. Relatives we spoke with knew how to raise any complaints or concerns.

The registered manager worked with people, their relatives and other organisations in an open way so people would enjoy the best well-being possible. Regular checks were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service.

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection

Wood Way Lodge is a care home for up to four people. This home provides care and support to people with learning difficulties. Four people lived there at the time of our visit. We were able to see and talk with them all.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. We saw there were policies and procedures in place in relation to the MCA and DoLS. The service had not made any applications to deprive someone of their liberty. We saw from the records we looked at that where people lacked the capacity to make decisions, best interest meetings were held. This was for finances, medicines and other things which affected a person’s safety.

The manager was involved in day to day monitoring of the standards of care and support that was provided to the people who lived at the home. This ensured that people received care and support that met their needs and enabled them to do the things they were interested in.

The home had systems in place to keep people safe. Assessments of the risk to people from a number of foreseeable hazards had been developed and reviewed. We saw that staff followed these guidelines when they supported people.

People’s needs and choices had been documented in their care plans.

During our observations we saw that people were treated with kindness and compassion. People told us staff treated them with respect and dignity, and they felt safe. Staff were able to tell us about the people they supported, for example, their personal histories and their interests.

All the people we spoke with said, or indicated through sign language, that they were happy living at the home.

Relatives, people who used the service and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about Wood Way Lodge to help highlight any areas of improvement that could be made to continuously improve the quality of the service provided.