The Care Quality Commission has found the quality of care provided by Mencap Portland and Oxborough Services in Arboretum, Nottingham, to be Outstanding overall following an inspection carried out in April.
Mencap Portland and Oxborough Services provides care and support for people with a learning disability who live in two houses and people who are living in the community. There were 12 people living at the service at the time of the inspection.
Inspectors found staff were caring and compassionate and people were being provided with safe, responsive, caring, effective and well-led care.
A full report of the inspection has been published on CQC’s website: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-119188995
Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Mencap Portland and Oxborough Services was rated Outstanding overall, Outstanding for being caring and well-led and Good for being safe, effective and responsive.
Rob Assall-Marsden, CQC’s Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care in the central region said:
“Our inspection team were impressed by the level of care observed at Mencap Portland and Oxborough Services.
“From the moment we arrived at the door of one of the houses and it was answered by a person who used the service, it was clear that Portland and Oxborough was led by the people who used the service. Every person we spoke with was able to describe an example of where staff had gone the extra mile or had supported them to achieve things they would otherwise not been able to achieve.
“The service manager and staff had a good understanding of how people communicated and had put in place systems and plans to support individual strengths and needs.
“Care plans showed that people's differing communication skills were recognised and where people needed support the management team had devised, with the person, extensive plans which informed staff how people communicated and expressed themselves in different ways. These were used to empower people to communicate and have autonomy over their lives.
“For example, one person had a significant hearing impairment and the management team had assessed the strengths of this person and developed a plan to enable them to communicate effectively and this had resulted in the person having autonomy over their life.
“As part of the plan the management team had supported the person to purchase and learn how to use a smartphone. The service manager had taken steps to ensure this technology was used to its full advantage to support the person to communicate effectively. Staff had supported the person to download suitable sign language software and to taught them to communicate using this.
“All of this meant people received a high standard of care, which is why it has been rated Outstanding.”
Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“The quality of care which our inspectors found here was exceptional and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the service’s achievements.
“An outstanding service is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved.”
John Cowman, Head of Services for learning disability charity Mencap, said:
“We welcome and respect all ratings from the CQC and we are thrilled for the entire team to have their hard work recognised by this Outstanding rating."
“People with a learning disability are at the centre of everything we do at Mencap. We pride ourselves on the personalised and high quality support we offer in helping people to live the lives they choose. We are delighted that the CQC has commended this culture of personalisation at Portland and Ox borough.
“The Outstanding rating is a true and well deserved reflection of the incredible work that our colleagues do in providing the highest standard of care and support.”
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