Farm Cottage is a small residential care home owned and managed by William Blake House. The model of care is based on the Rudolf Steiner principles of providing a spiritually oriented community, supporting people with learning disabilities to continually develop, regardless of disability.

Farm Cottage provided care for five people with very complex learning disabilities, at the time of the inspection four people were living at the service.

At the last inspection, we rated the service ‘Good’. At this inspection, the registered manager and the chief executive officer / provider, demonstrated they had continued to develop the service and the overall rating of the service is ‘Outstanding’.

There was a registered manager. 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.

The service demonstrated an excellent commitment to providing outstanding care that put people at the heart of the service. The registered manager and the provider led by example and inspired the staff to deliver person centred care that consistently achieved outstanding outcomes for all people using the service.

The staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and compassionate. They continuously went the 'extra mile' to ensure that people lived as fulfilled and enriched lives as possible. People's individuality was upheld, which enabled people to grow in confidence and develop as much independence as possible. The staff were proud of the support they provided and the positive outcomes people had achieved. Information was provided to people in an accessible format to enable them to make informed choices and decisions about their care and support.

People and their relatives were very involved in decisions regarding their care and support needs. The care plans were very personalised to reflect people's individual requirements. Staff had an excellent understanding of people’s values and beliefs on how they wanted to receive their care and support to be delivered. The support people received was flexible and responsive to people’s individuality needs and preferences. This gave people an exceptional sense of wellbeing and excellent quality of life. The individual and social activities provided at the service consistently met people’s needs and preferences.

The service played a key role in the local community and was actively involved in building further links. People were encouraged and supported to regularly engage with events outside of the service. People using the service and families were actively encouraged to give their views and raise any concerns or complaints People’s feedback was valued and responses to matters raised were dealt with in an open, transparent and honest way.

Staff continuously demonstrated they upheld and promoted the values and ethos of the service, through providing person centred care that respected the unique qualities of each person using the service. The provider ensured the service kept up to date with the current best practices through membership of relevant organisations and working with various professionals and agencies. The registered manager continuously looked at ways to improve the service and enhance people's lives. The feedback from the people, relatives and professionals was consistently positive.

Staff knew their responsibilities as defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005). The registered manager was aware of how to make referrals to the local authority under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). In order to keep people safe the least restrictive practice was always used to ensure people’s human rights were fully promoted.

People continuously received support by the numbers of staff acc

The inspection took place on 26 August 2015 and was unannounced. The service cares for up to four people with learning disabilities and four people were living at the service when we visited.

A registered manager was 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.

People were safe and protected from harm. The staff had a good understanding of abuse and the safeguarding procedures that should be followed to report any abuse.

Risk assessments were in place to reduce and manage the risks to peoples’ health and welfare.

Systems were in place to monitor accidents and incidents so that preventative action could be taken to reduce the number of occurrences.

Robust staff and volunteer recruitment systems ensured that staff were safe to work with people using the service.

The staffing arrangements ensured there was always staff available to meet people’s care and support needs.

Robust arrangements were in place for the safe administration and management of medicines.

The staff were provided with comprehensive induction training and on-going training, which ensured that they had the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of all people living at the service.

A programme of staff supervision and annual appraisals enabled the staff to reflect on their work practice and plan their learning and development needs.

The staff treated people dignity and respect and ensured their rights were upheld. Consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were met.

Healthy eating was integral to promoting well-being. People had a choice of good, nutritious food their food and drink was closely monitored and appropriate referrals made to the health professionals when concerns were identified.

The staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and compassionate.

Relatives worked in partnership with the staff and were kept informed of any changes to a person’s health or well-being.

People had individualised care plans in place that were detailed and reflected their needs and choices about how they preferred their care and support to be provided.

People were encouraged and supported to engage in purposeful social, occupational and recreational activities to their enhance well-being.

There were regular meetings for staff which gave them an opportunity to share ideas, and give information about possible areas for improvements to the manager.

People were encouraged to raise any concerns they had about the quality of the service they received and complaints were taken seriously and responded to immediately. There was an emphasis on the service continually striving to improve.

The vision and values of the service were person-centred and made sure people living at the service and their representatives were fully consulted, involved and in control of their care.

Robust quality assurance systems were carried out to assess and monitor the quality of the service. The views of people living at the service and their representatives were sought about the quality of the service and acted upon to make positive changes.

We spoke with a total of three people that either used the service or had a relative that used the service. They all told us they were happy with the care and support that people that used the service received. When asked if they were satisfied with service one person told us they were “Exceptionally happy”. Another person told us “I couldn’t praise them (the staff) more highly.”

We found that people’s needs were assessed and care and support plans were put in place to ensure that people’s needs were met. We found that people had activities planned throughout the week that were meaningful and specific to them and their needs. We found that risks were assessed and control measures had been put in place to ensure people were safe.

We found that there were appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that medicines were managed safely and we spoke with two staff members that told us they felt well supported in their roles. We found the provider had a detailed complaints policy in place and we saw the provider had taken action and responded appropriately over any concerns that had been raised.

We spoke with a person who lived at Farm Cottage who told us "I like it here" and "I feel safe".

We spoke with two members of staff who worked at Farm Cottage. They were able to tell us about the needs of the people who used the service and they told us "the care is fantastic" and "I would highly commend the place".

We found that the needs of people who used the service had been assessed and that there were detailed care and support plans in place to ensure that their needs were met. We found that adequate checks and been carried out on staff prior to them starting work. We saw that where staff required a visa to enable them to work in the United Kingdom that it was in place. We saw that the provider assessed and monitored the service provision.

We carried out this inspection because we had not visited since 11 August 2009.

One resident told us that he was happy living at Farm Cottage. He told us that he had recently enjoyed a holiday supported by a member of staff from Farm Cottage. He explained that staff help him to keep in touch with his family and friends.