26 February 2019
During a routine inspection
About the service:
Field Maple Tree is a domiciliary care agency. It provides a service to adults with learning disabilities and autism. This service provides care and support to people living in four ‘supported living’ settings. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 20 people. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection:
Requires improvement (published 29 March 2017).
Why we inspected:
This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.
People’s experience of using this service:
People had good community networks which were personal to them. This included, day services and supporting people to access the local amenities and maintaining regular contact with family and friends. Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) were promoted and understood by staff.
People and relatives told us they were happy, felt safe and that staff had a good understanding of their needs and preferences. Staff listened to what people wanted and acted quickly to support them to achieve their goals and aspirations. Staff were innovative and looked to offer people solutions to aid their independence and develop their life skills.
Improvements had been made to medicines, supervisions, training, Mental Capacity Act paperwork and quality monitoring since the last inspection. Medicine errors had reduced and safe systems had been introduced through robust quality monitoring. Staff felt they were well trained and skilled. They worked with people to overcome challenges and promote their independence. The emphasis of support was towards enabling people to learn essential life skills. Staff encouraged positive risk taking so people could experience new things and develop. This had led to people feeling fulfilled and living an active life.
People, professional’s and relatives spoke highly about the management and staff had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Staff told us they felt the registered manager could be more visible and supportive. The registered manager recognised this and wanted to work positively with the staff team to support people to achieve their own goals and to be safe. Checks of safety and quality were made to ensure people were protected. Work to continuously improve was noted and the registered manager was keen to make changes that would impact positively on people's lives.
People and their families described the staff as caring, kind and friendly and the atmosphere of the home as relaxed and engaging. 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 practice.
The service was reviewing how best they could meet the values that underpin the 'Registering the Right Support' and other best practice guidance such as 'Building the Right Support'. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. Also, how people with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
A full description of our findings can be found in the sections below.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.