Cambian Lufton Manor College

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Safe - this means we looked for evidence that young people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. At our last inspection we rated this key question requires improvement. At this inspection the rating has changed to good. This meant young people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 78 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. There was a clear commitment to minimising the use of restrictive interventions. Where a restrictive intervention was in place or had been used, staff and leaders took time to reflect as to why this was in place and what could be done to reduce or remove it. There was a debrief with students and staff following restrictive interventions being used. There was evidence concerns could be raised safely, poor or unsafe practice was identified and challenged, and students and their representatives were involved in all aspects of their care. Staff told us, “When something goes wrong the managers are really supportive, we have a debrief and discuss what if anything we could have done differently any learning is shared with all staff.”

The service worked with students and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when young people moved between different services. Staff worked with other agencies to ensure a smooth transition between services. The registered managers told us, “Our focus is on transition. We work with other agencies to ensure the next placement is suitable for the students and their needs. We will feedback if the placement is not suitable and support the student until the right placement is found.” A relative said, “Cambian Lufton Manor College saved my [loved one] and are continuing to protect their best interest even when they faced homelessness. I will be forever thankful.”

The service worked with students and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They concentrated on improving students’ lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The service shared concerns quickly and appropriately. The service had a robust safeguarding system in place. Staff knew how to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and received regular training to ensure they were up to date with best practice guidance. Staff knew how to report concerns both internally and externally to the service. Appropriate safeguarding referrals had been made and actions taken to keep students safe. Where restrictive practice was being used, they were legally justified, proportionate, necessary and as a last resort. There was a clear commitment to reducing them. All restrictive practices were recorded in students Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff said, “Safeguarding simply means protecting the student's health, wellbeing and human rights; enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. Here in Lufton collage, we have a designated safeguarding team and we report any concerns to the team. If for some reason the safeguarding team isn't responding to the raised concern, I will contact the local authority via whistle-blowing and inform CQC.”

The service worked with students to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They provided care to meet students’ needs that was safe, supportive and enabled young people to do the things that mattered to them. Staff understood there were times when students became distressed and took steps to understand why and what support they needed to express their emotions. Staff spoke to and about students at times of distress in a respectful way. Students were supported and empowered to take risks in areas they wanted to and to enhance their lives. For example, students were supported to use their own money, use public transport and had access to offsite work experiences. When students needs changed or staff noticing changes in their mood or communication style, care plans and risk assessments were reviewed. The registered manager said, “We are ambitious for our students and their outcomes. We are brave for our students and embrace positive risk taking to empower our students and help them build the life skills they need when they move onto their next placement.”

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. People’s individual sensory needs had been considered. There were adaptations and reasonable adjustments made to enhanced people’s quality of life. Students were able to have their sensory needs met to overload and feel relaxed when at home. A relative told us, “Adaptations have been made to [loved one’s] accommodation to make it more practical for their needs.”

The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met students individual needs. We observed interactions between students and staff where students appeared to be in control of their day and relaxed. Staff had received training in how to support autistic students and how to support people with a learning disability, they had access to bespoke training if they needed it. One staff member told us, “We were struggling to meet the complex needs of a student. We told the managers who arranged for bespoke training based on what the student needed. I felt more confident after that, and the student was a lot better afterwards.” Student’s individual needs and care plans were understood by staff who had their skills and competency assessed. When agency was used a robust system was in place to ensure they had the right skills and competencies to support students.

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. Students accommodation was clean and free from the spread of infection throughout. Cleaning schedules were in place and regularly completed by staff and reviewed by the management team.

The service always made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They were exceptional at ensuring students were not over-medicated by medicines that restricted and controlled behaviour (anti-psychotic medicines). Staff were aware of ‘STOMP’ (an initiative to reduce over-medication of people with learning disabilities and autism). They had created support plans with students and those closest to them with techniques for staff to use at times of distress. This person-centred approach with additional bespoke staff training had led to the successful reduction, and in some cases the stopping of the use of anti-psychotic medicines . This had improved the lives of 2 students living at the college. They no longer relied of the use of these medicines to improve their mood and behaviour as with the support of staff, they had learned skills to regulate their emotions and to express themselves in a constructive way. Students’ medicines were managed safely, and they received them in the way prescribed for them. Staff asked students’ preferences for how they liked to take their medicines and followed this. When medicines were prescribed ‘when required’ there were personalised protocols to guide staff when these would be needed. Staff were trained and had competency checks to make sure they gave medicines safely. There were suitable arrangements for ordering, storing and disposal of medicines. There were regular medicines audits and areas for improvement were identified and addressed. Any medicines incidents were appropriately reported and investigated, so measures could be put in place to prevent a recurrence and learning could be shared.