Walsingham Support - St John's

Walsingham Support – St John’s provides accommodation and personal care for up to six people with learning disabilities. It is located in the Teddington area. At the time of the 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 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.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. There was an open culture which helped people to achieve the outcomes they wanted to. Staff empowered people to make decisions about their care needs. People had support to build and maintain important relationships to them.

People were satisfied with the support they received and they felt safe living at the service. Relatives were also happy that their family members were living in a safe, caring home.

The provider assessed risk in relations to people's care needs which meant they were able to take part in activities and live in a safe way. There were enough staff employed by the service and they were safe recruitment checks in place. The provider had effective infection control procedures in place, including those in relation to COVID-19.

Staff told us, and records showed that they received regular training and supervision.

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.

The staff supported people with their nutrition and ongoing health support needs.

There was a pleasant atmosphere in the home. People were treated with respect and dignity and staff cared for them in a way that protected their dignity and promoted independence.

Care and support plans were in place and people were supported to access the community to avoid social isolation. The provider listened and acted on any complaints that were received.

There was a new manager and deputy manager at the service. Staff told us the new management team were approachable. Some records relating to people’s care and support needs including their risk assessments, and other support plans were past their review date, however the manager acted immediately and updated these after the site visit. We have made a recommendation to the provider about this.

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

Rating at last inspection.

This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the CQC on 25 July 2019.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

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.