The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by Fairleigh House, Manchester to be Outstanding following an inspection in October 2016.
Fairleigh House provides support and personal care for up to seven people with learning disabilities. There were seven people living at the home at the time of the visit. There were five single rooms, a semi-independent flat on the top floor and an independent flat on the lower ground floor.
The service was rated Outstanding for being caring and responsive and Good for being safe, effective and well-led.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“I delighted to be able to say that the care provided at Fairleigh House was of an exceptional quality. I was particularly impressed with the knowledge and skills that staff members possessed. They had extensive knowledge of the people they cared for, often knowing their likes and dislikes.
“They knew what might trigger negative or challenging behaviour and acted accordingly. This clearly demonstrated the patient-centred care the home was able to deliver.
“The home invested in its staff by delivering high quality training. We were told of the "intense interaction" training that had been delivered at the service and the effect which this had on people's communication. Evidence, again, of the importance the provider placed on training and the benefits it brought to people.
“We saw evidence of homeworking skills being promoted. It was good to witness this as the home had an ethos of enabling and encouraging people’s independence. The semi-independent flat that the home had on its top floor was used extensively allowing people to cook, clean and do their own laundry.
The whole team should be very proud of the service they are providing.”
You can read the full inspection report here.
The report highlights a number of areas of outstanding practice, including
- Staff actions promoted people's privacy and dignity. This was confirmed by the person with whom inspectors spoke, relatives and health and social care professionals. One relative said, "They respect her – they are very good." The dentist stated, "During my visits I feel that the staff engage with the residents appropriately, treating them with dignity and their needs are addressed."
- Staff were very knowledgeable about people and knew when they felt secure or were becoming anxious. They were able to anticipate if an experience or activity was starting to overwhelm a person. Members of staff were aware of triggers which could cause a negative effect on people's behaviour. Staff explained that one person liked to be involved in everything, another person liked to have paper and a towel and a third individual did not like any changes to their routine. This meant that certain situations were avoided and triggers minimised to help ensure people's wellbeing.
- Staff were highly motivated and committed and spoke with pride about the importance of ensuring people's needs were held in the forefront of everything they did. Most people inspectors spoke with did not use speech to communicate. It was clear however, from their signs, body language and interactions with their staff that they liked and enjoyed the support they received.
I was particularly impressed with the knowledge and skills that staff members possessed.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North