Milchester House

Milchester House is a supported living service providing personal care for people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. Milchester House is a large converted house with four rooms and two flats on the upper floor. There is an office space and staff room for staff who sleep at the service overnight. At the time of the inspection five people were receiving support. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People were leading full and busy lives. They were supported to make choices and to be as independent as possible. Risks were identified, assessed and managed. One person spoke about their experience of the service saying, “It’s really helping me with my independence.”

There were enough staff to care for people safely and people were receiving their medicines when they needed them. One relative told us, “There is always enough staff and they don’t have many staff changes, that’s how they get to know people so well.”

Staff understood the importance of monitoring incidents and accidents and there were robust systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. Staff followed safe procedures for prevention and control of infection.

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.

People’s needs and choices were assessed and there were detailed and effective plans in place to guide staff in how to care for people. Staff has access to the training and support they needed, including for people’s specific needs and health conditions. There were effective systems for communication both at the service, and with other agencies to ensure people received the care they needed. Staff were proactive in ensuring that people could access health care services and supported them to live healthier lives. One person had been supported with a successful planned weight-loss programme. Their relative told us, “The staff encouraged him to walk and be active for example using the gym, I’m very proud of him.”

Staff knew people well and treated them with kindness, respect, and involved them in making decisions. People told us the staff were caring and supported them to be as independent as possible. One person said of the staff, “They respect my privacy and they are approachable and good to talk to.”

People were receiving care that was personalised and responsive to their diverse needs. Care and support plans were comprehensive and reflected people’s views, wishes and aspirations. Staff were responsive to changes in needs. If people expressed a view about end of life care their wishes were recorded.

Staff communicated with people effectively and supported them to maintain contact with people who were important to them. People and relatives knew how to make complaints and were confident that their concerns would be listened to and acted upon.

There were effective systems in place to support the management and governance of the service. People, their relatives and staff were involved in developments and described good systems of communication at the service. Staff worked in partnership with other agencies and there was a positive, open culture that supported learning, including when things went wrong. People and their relatives spoke highly of the management of the service. One person told us about the registered manager saying, “She is simply the best, like Tina Turner.”

Staff also spoke highly of the registered manager and the provider. One staff member told us, “It’s a lovely place to work and everyone enjoys living and working here. There’s a lovely feel to the place and everyone is happy and comfortable.”

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence.

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights.

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 25 November 2019. Previously this was one of many supported living sites that the provider had registered under one supported living location. The provider has now registered each site as a separate location.

Why we inspected

This was the first planned inspection for this service.

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.