Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Updated 21 June 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. We did this to understand the service’s ability to prevent or manage an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we could share with other services.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities is a care home without nursing care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection the manager had applied to register with us, and their application was being processed.

Notice of inspection

We contacted the service on the morning of the inspection. This was because the service offers short term respite stays, and we needed to make sure there would be people using the service and staff present at the service.

Inspection activity started on 30 May 2023 and ended on 1 June 2023. We visited the location on 30 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We observed people’s care and support in the shared areas of the service. We spoke with 2 people using the service on the day of our inspection, and we spoke with family members of 5 people who had used the service recently.

We spoke with the home manager, the service manager, and 4 members of staff.

We reviewed records including care and support records for 6 people and recruitment records for 3 staff members.

Updated 21 June 2023

About the service

Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities is a residential care service providing short term respite stays for people with a learning disability and autistic people. It provides accommodation and personal care for up to 5 people. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance the Care Quality Commission (CQC) follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Based on our inspection of key areas safe and well-led, we found:

Right Support:

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. 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.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked with other agencies to ensure care met people’s needs. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care and support because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing during their respite stays. A person we spoke with at the service said it was “brilliant”.

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 13 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Respite Unit for Adults with Learning Disabilities on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.