We carried out an announced inspection of Hancox Close on 6 October 2017. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice so we could be sure people would be available to speak with us.

The service provides accommodation and support for up to six people with learning difficulties. There were six people living at Hancox Close when we visited.

At the last inspection in October 2015, the service was rated as good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

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.

There was a relaxed atmosphere in the home and people responded positively when approached by staff. The relationship between staff and the people who lived in the home was respectful, friendly and good humoured. Staff treated each person as an individual and adapted their approach accordingly.

There were enough staff to respond to people’s needs without rushing and to spend time with people on an individual basis. Staff were well supported through a system of induction, training and supervision by senior staff. The provider’s recruitment procedures ensured staff were of a suitable character to work with people who lived at Hancox Close.

Risks relating to people’s care had been identified and assessed according to their individual needs and abilities. Staff knew how to keep people safe and to report any concerns they had about people’s health or wellbeing.

Care plans provided staff with detailed person centred information about how people preferred their care and support to be delivered. Staff knew people well and had a good insight into people’s personal routines and how they wanted to live their life.

The provider was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff supported people to make and communicate their choices and respected the decisions they made. Where people did not have capacity to make decisions, staff worked in their best interests.

People were encouraged to have enough to eat and drink and referred to other healthcare professionals when a need was identified. People were given their medicines by staff who had been trained to give them safely.

The provider carried out regular checks to ensure people received safe care that met their individual needs. Staff felt valued and spoke positively about the management of the service. They were encouraged to share learning to improve outcomes for people living in the home.

We conducted an unannounced inspection of Hancox Close on 20 October 2015. The service provides care and support for up to six people with learning disabilities. There were six people using the service when we visited.

The service had 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. On the day of our visit the registered manager was on annual leave. A registered manager from another service who had worked as team leader in the home until recently, came to the home to support our visit.

There were sufficient numbers of staff who had the right skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Staff were able to talk confidently about the various forms of abuse and understood their responsibility to report any concerns. The provider had recruitment procedures to ensure staff who worked at the home were of a suitable character to work with people who lived there.

Risk management plans informed staff how identified risks should be managed to keep people safe. There was information for staff to follow to manage behaviours that could cause anxiety or upset to minimise their impact on people and others. People received their medicines as prescribed from staff who had been trained in managing medicines safely.

Staff were extremely positive about the training and support they received. They told us it enabled them to meet the changing needs of people in the home effectively.

We found the service worked to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 key principles. These state that a person’s capacity should always be assumed, and assessments of capacity must be undertaken when it is believed that a person cannot make decisions about their care and support. Where people had been assessed as not having capacity, healthcare professionals and those closest to them had been involved in making decisions in their best interests.

People had enough to eat and drink. People were supported to make food choices and offered alternatives if they did not like the food offered. Staff followed guidelines to ensure people’s meals were prepared and served to manage any nutritional risks.

Staff were motivated and provided care and support in a caring and meaningful way. They treated people with kindness and compassion and made positive comments to people that gave them a sense of self-worth. Staff respected people’s privacy and worked with people to ensure their dignity was maintained.

People were supported to participate in meaningful activities at home, in the local community and to have holidays. The environment was warm and friendly and items had been introduced to support people living with dementia.

The management and staff were committed to providing high quality care that met people’s individual needs. Staff spoke very highly of the registered manager and told us they valued the support from the wider staff team.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and drive continuous improvement.

When we visited 7 & 8 Hancox Close, we did so unannounced which meant that no one who lived or worked at the service knew we were coming.

During our visit we met all of the people who lived in the home, the team leader, senior project worker, three project workers and a visiting healthcare professional. We also spoke by telephone with two relatives who had family members living in the home.

People living in the home had complex needs which meant that they were not able to tell us their experiences. We spent time during our visit observing care to help us understand their experiences. We saw that people appeared comfortable and relaxed in their surroundings. People appeared happy in the company of the staff and responded to them with smiles when staff spoke with them.

Relatives we spoke with told us they were happy with the care provided to their family members commenting, "We've always thought it very good" and "X couldn't have gone anywhere better."

People had person centred support plans in place that provided information to assist staff with meeting their care and support needs. Staff we spoke with knew people well and were able to tell us about their care and support when we asked.

The home presented as clean and tidy, with procedures in place to reduce the risk of cross infection.

We saw that systems were in place to ensure the health safety and welfare of people was maintained.

When we visited Hancox Close we met with each person using the service. We met and spoke with five members of staff and had telephone discussions with two relatives about the care their family member received at Hancox Close.

The people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not able to tell us their experiences. When we met with them they smiled when we asked them how they were. We found that staff knew people as individuals and understood their personal needs and ways of communicating those needs. We saw that people were relaxed and at ease with staff and within the home environment.

We spoke to the relatives of two people using the service who told us, "We have no concerns and would recommend Hancox Close to anyone. Staff are very nice” and "I am 110% happy with the care given to XX."

The environment was homely with framed photographs displayed of people enjoying their holidays and other activities they did. We saw each person's bedroom was clean, warm and well furnished and reflected the person’s individuality.

Each person had a care plan and these were written in a way that was easy for people to understand with the use of photographs and symbols.

Staff told us they felt supported by the manager and had the skills they needed to deliver the care people using the service needed.