Archived: The Walled Garden

Updated 25 October 2017

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection was unannounced and took place on 15 September 2017. It was completed by one inspector.

Before the inspection the provider sent us information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We looked at all the information we have collected about the service. This included the previous inspection report and notifications the registered manager had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

We looked at paperwork for four people who live in the service. This included support plans, daily notes and other documentation, such as medication records. In addition we looked at records related to the running of the service. These included a sample of health and safety, quality assurance, staff and training records.

During our inspection we observed care and support in communal areas of the home. We interacted with the people who live in the home. Some people were able to talk with us whilst others had very limited verbal communication but were able to show their feelings by facial expression and body language. Some people were not able to express their specific views to us. We spoke with four people who live in the service and specifically interacted with two others. We spoke with seven (five in depth) staff members and the registered manager. On the day of the inspection we spent time with some relatives of people who live in the service. We requested information from 13 other social care and health professionals and received five responses, all of which were positive.

Updated 25 October 2017

This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 15 September 2017.

The Walled Garden is a residential care home which is registered to provide a service for up to ten people with learning disabilities. Nine people were resident in the service on the day of the inspection. People had other associated difficulties such as behaviours that may cause distress to themselves and/or others.

At the last inspection, in September 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated Good:

There is a registered manager running 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.

People, staff and visitors continued to be protected from harm and the registered manager ensured the service remained as safe as possible. Safety was maintained by staff who had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and health and safety policies and procedures. Staff fully understood how to protect the people in their care and knew who to contact if they had any concerns. General risks and risks to individuals were identified and appropriate action was taken to reduce them, as far as possible.

People benefitted from unusually high staffing ratios which ensured there were always enough staff on duty to meet people’s diverse, complex, individual needs safely. Recruitment systems were in place to make sure, that as far as possible, staff recruited were safe and suitable to work with people. People were supported to take their medicines, at the right times and in the right amounts by trained and competent staff.

People continued to be assisted by well-trained staff who were properly supported to make sure they could meet people’s varied well-being and highly complex needs. Staff dealt very effectively with people’s current and quickly changing needs. The service worked closely with health and other professionals to ensure they were able to meet people’s often, very special needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practise.

People continued to be supported by an exceptionally caring staff team who were committed to meeting people’s needs with patience and kindness. The service was extraordinarily person centred and had made very positive impacts on people’s feelings of well-being. The staff team were attentive and were able to communicate with people by using detailed individual communication systems.

The service remained very responsive to people’s needs. Support planning was highly individualised which ensured people’s equality and diversity was respected. People were provided with activities to enable them to lead as fulfilling a lifestyle as possible.

The registered manager was respected and ensured the service was well-led. She was described as open, approachable and supportive. The quality of care the service provided continued to be assessed, reviewed and improved, as necessary.