We inspected Beckside Lodge on 30 and 31 August 2016 and the first visit was unannounced. We told the provider we would be returning the following day to complete our inspection. Our last inspection took place on 30 April 2014 and, at that time, we found all of the regulations we looked at were being met.

Beckside Lodge is a purpose built home which provides accommodation and personal care for up to 10 people with a learning/physical disability. It is located on Cooper Lane in Bradford and is close to local shops and amenities.

At the time of our visit there were 10 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the time of our inspection the registered manager was on annual leave. We saw staff were committed to providing the same excellent standard of care at all times and the culture was embedded so that senior staff were not reliant on the presence of the registered manager to deliver an outstanding service to people.

The environment at Beckside Lodge had been extremely well planned throughout. There were 10 large single bedrooms with en-suite toilets and showers a large lounge, sensory room, kitchen/diner, a large bathroom and a further kitchen/diner/lounge. This allowed people to find a space to relax in or to be in a more social, lively area. Corridors and doorways were wide which made access to all of the rooms easy for wheelchair users.

People’s bedrooms were highly personalised and other areas had been tastefully decorated and furnished. There was a real sense of ‘home’ which was shared by people who used the service, relatives, staff and visitors.

Staff had been recruited safely and had been well trained. There were enough staff on duty with the skills and knowledge to provide people with the care and support they needed. Staff received regular supervision sessions and felt supported in their roles. The turnover of staff was very low and many of the staff had worked at the service since it opened three years ago. All of the staff we spoke with told us how much they enjoyed working at Beckside Lodge and how rewarding they found their jobs.

People told us they always felt safe at the home. Staff had a good understanding of how to control risks to people’s health, safety and welfare.

People and their relatives had been involved in planning their care and support. Care plans were individualised and staff worked in a very person centred way. They knew each individual well and how they liked to be supported and respected this at all times. Staff understood how people communicated their needs and responded accordingly. Staff supported people to be as independent as possible and this had increased their opportunities and experiences.

The service was exceptionally caring. People told us they liked the staff and found them helpful, kind and caring. Staff knew individuals very well, worked in a very person centred way and had built strong relationships with people. People and /or their relatives also told us staff had worked with individuals to enable them become more independent. The efforts of staff to support people to become more independent had transformed their opportunities to access the community.

We also found people were having brilliant opportunities to attend a variety of activities, take holidays, make new friends and to participate in the local and wider community. This was giving people new experiences and they were finding new things to do which they enjoyed and enabled them to develop new skills and lead fulfilled lives.

We found people had access to healthcare services and these were accessed in a timely way to make sure people’s health care

The focus of the inspection was to answer five key questions;

Is the service safe?

Is the service effective?

Is the service caring?

Is the service responsive ?

Is the service and well-led?

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service, their relatives and the staff told us, what we observed and the records we looked at. If you want to see the evidence that supports our summary please read the full report. This is a summary of what we found:

Is the service safe?

We found the home had a safeguarding and whistleblowing policy in place. We saw risk assessments linked with care plans to minimise and relieve risk where possible. We spoke with staff who knew what to do if they had any concerns. We saw all staff had a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check prior to starting employment.

Is the service effective?

People that used the service told us they had their needs met. We saw care plans included assessed needs with a support plan to direct staff how to support each individual in a person centered way. We saw people’s preference had been taken into account. For example one person communicates through hand movements. The care plans we saw included information from external professionals.

Is the service caring?

We observed staff interaction with people and saw they were polite and respectful. People told us they liked the staff and one person said, "The staff are great." We spoke with staff who told us they were all very caring and have sufficient time to spend with the people that used the service.

Is the service responsive?

As the home is new, no satisfaction surveys had been sent out. We saw a compliments and complaints book was easily accessible but there were no entries. We looked at some audits and found areas to improve had been identified and steps had been taken to achieve the desired outcome. We observed one person ask staff for a drink which they got quickly.

Is the service well led?

We found different monthly audits were in place and improvements had been made. Staff told us they knew what their job role was and felt comfortable approaching the management. Senior managers made regular visits to the home to audit and support the manger. Quality assurance processes were in place, this helped to ensure that people received good quality service at all times.