We carried out a review of the data available to us about Hamilton Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Hamilton Court, you can give feedback on this service.
Hamilton Court is a supported living service. It provides support for people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder living in the community. Accommodation is based in a small housing complex owned by South Yorkshire Housing Association. At the time of the inspection 16 people were using the service. Three people lived in single occupancy flats, and there were also three houses each providing accommodation to four people who used the service.
Secretary of State has asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to conduct a thematic review and to make recommendations about the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide care for people with or who might have mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. Thematic reviews look in-depth at specific issues concerning quality of care across the health and social care sectors. They expand our understanding of both good and poor practice and of the potential drivers of improvement.
As part of thematic review, we carried out a survey with the registered manager at this inspection. This considered whether the service used any restrictive intervention practices (restraint, seclusion and segregation) when supporting people.
The service used positive behaviour support principles to support people in the least restrictive way. No restrictive intervention practices were used.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
The people we visited told us the service had helped them to maintain and improve their independence and confidence. People said they liked and trusted the staff and interactions we saw between people and staff were friendly, supportive and respectful.
People felt safe living at the service and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Procedures for recruiting new staff made sure that only suitable people were employed in the service. The arrangements for handling medicines were safe and people received their medicines as prescribed.
Care was personalised to people’s individual needs and people’s care plans were being developed to support this further. People led active lives and engaged in activities as individuals, and with their friends, partners and peers.
People, those close to them and staff were involved in decisions about the service delivery and development through meetings and surveys. The managers of the service were approachable, responsive to suggestions and well respected by people.
The service worked with a variety of professionals to maintain people’s health and wellbeing and people had access to a good range of health care services. Staff encouraged people to eat a healthy diet and people had enough 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 and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published January 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
This is the first inspection of the service since its registration with the Commission in December 2015.
The service has recently appointed a manager who has indicated that they will be submitting an application to be the registered manager. 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 we visited told us that the service had really helped them to achieve their independence and confidence. They were complimentary about the staff that supported them. People we spoke with said they would definitely recommend the service to others.
There were enough skilled and experienced staff and there was a programme of training, supervision and appraisal to support staff to meet people’s needs. Procedures in relation to
recruitment and retention of staff were robust and ensured only suitable people were employed in the service.
The acting manager was aware of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). There were policies and procedures in place and key staff had been trained. This helped to make sure people were safeguarded from excessive or unnecessary restrictions being place on them.
The arrangements for handling medicines were safe and people received their medicines as prescribed. People had access to a good range of health care services and staff actively advocated for people if they felt health care services were not as responsive as they should be.
People were encouraged to make decisions about meals, and were supported to go shopping and be involved in menu planning. We saw people were involved and consulted about all aspects of their care and support, where they were able, including suggestions for activities.
We observed good interactions between staff and people who used the service. People were happy to discuss the day’s events and one person told us about their likes and interests. People told us they were aware of the complaints procedure and said staff would assist them if they needed to use it.
They had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and to continually review safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents. Where action plans were in place to make improvements, these were monitored to make sure they were delivered. We saw copies of reports produced by the acting manager and by peers from other services. The reports included any actions required and these were checked each month to determine progress.