Highlands Road is a residential home that provides support for up to four people who may have learning disabilities or autism.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People's experience of using this service:

People told us they were very happy living at Highlands Road. People told us they were encouraged to be independent and involved in developing their care and support plans. Staff understood people’s individual communication needs and worked in proactive ways to provide person-centred support.

Staff demonstrated knowledge of how to safeguard adults and promoted their human rights. Incidents were dealt with appropriately, which helped to keep people safe. People were supported with their health needs, this included being supported for a specific learning disability annual health check. People were referred to other health and social care professionals when required and were supported with their emotional well-being. Staff we spoke with told us they felt supported by the provider.

People told us staff were caring, supportive and kind. We observed staff to treat people in a dignified manner and people told us they were given privacy within the home. Activities were arranged for people that suited their individual interests. Staff actively explored what other activities or community groups were available locally to ensure that people had opportunities to engage in their community.

Support plans were detailed and recorded what was important to the individual. People were involved in planning their own lives and agreeing future goals. Support plans were person-centred, meaning people were at the heart of how they wanted their care and support to be provided.

Staff told us they felt well trained and supported. The home had a consistent staff team who understood the needs of people well. We saw staff upheld and promoted people's rights relating to equality and diversity.

People, staff and professionals told us they thought the home was well led and they spoke positively about the senior support worker and the registered manager. The provider and registered manager carried out numerous audits to ensure the service was effective. Staff supported people to integrate into the local community and the culture of the service promoted the values of supporting people to be as independent as possible.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Rating at the last inspection: The service was rated as good and the report was published on 16 September 2016.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

The inspection took place on 1 November 2016. The provider was given 72 hours’ notice of our visit because we needed to be sure staff and people using the service would be available to meet with us.

Highlands Road provides care and accommodation for up to three adults with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection the service was fully occupied. The bungalow provides three single bedrooms, one with en-suite facilities, a communal kitchen, bathroom, laundry, dining and lounge area and limited parking on the driveway. People also have access to a garden area.

The home 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.

Staff had a good understanding of their role in safeguarding people. Incidents were being reported where appropriate and records seen confirmed this.

We found that policies and procedures were in place to guide staff in how to keep people safe in the event of emergencies, for example a fire or flood. Fire drills and fire alarm tests were carried out along with regular audits of emergency and contingency planning.

Medicines were stored safely and systems were in place to ensure medicine stock could be monitored and audited. People were given their medicines by staff who had received medicines training.

Risk assessments were carried out where necessary and care plans were devised to minimise known hazards, whilst encouraging people to be as independent as possible.

Staff training was well organised and on-going. Staff had completed training in accordance with the required needs of people living at the service.

Correct procedures were followed in line with the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and staff worked within the guidelines and peoples best interests when depriving people of their liberty.

Staff followed the advice of other healthcare professionals and we saw evidence of joint working to achieve the best outcomes for people living at the service.

People told us they were involved in writing menus and food shopping. They also told us they enjoyed the food and were given support to cook.

People had a choice about the activities they wished to do and some were engaged in paid employment. Staff also supported people to find new interests and pursue activities they found meaningful. Information written in care plans reflected the needs and personalities of each individual.

People were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the care they received through their house meetings, an on line ‘yammer’ site owned by the provider and peer review sessions. We saw that were issues or suggestions were raised by people, these were responded to by the provider and staff.

Staff and people we spoke with told us that they had a positive relationship with the registered manager. Staff also told us they had regular supervision with the registered manager.

Some areas of the service were showing signs of wear and tear and the bathroom area would benefit from refurbishment.

Mr. Abdoulie Ndoye was the registered manager of the home at the point of our inspection. Ms. Samantha Smith who is also named in this report is not registered with the Commission.

We met all three of the people who lived at Highlands Road. One person was just leaving to go out to work so we didn’t speak to them about their views. The two people we did speak to said they were involved in decisions regarding their lives. They told us they were happy with the care and support they received. One person had recently moved to the home and told us they had visited beforehand and been involved in the decision to move there.

We saw records that showed us people had busy lives and were supported on an individual basis to choose how to spend their time. Care plans clearly reflected people's needs and the level of support they required. We observed people speaking to staff about their plans for the evening and the shopping trip they were planning that afternoon. There was a relaxed and friendly rapport between staff and people using the service.

We saw that medicines were safely stored and administered. Those people we asked told us they received their medicines and were satisfied with how this was handled by the home. Each person had an individual care plan for their support with their medicines.

The home had suitable processes in place to monitor the quality of the service.

At the point of our inspection there were two people living in the service who had moved there in March 2012. The service was previously empty and had undergone refurbishment during this time. We spoke to both the people currently living there. They told us they had been fully involved in the process of choosing the home and moving in. They had met each other at the service during this process and one had visited the other’s previous home.

They told us they were consulted on all aspects of their lives and choices and decisions were respected. Comments included “we can do what we want” and “the rules are limited”.