Jasmine House is a residential home situated in the town of Alton, Hampshire. It provides care for up to five young adults who may have either a learning or physical disability and other complex needs. At the time we inspected there were two young adults living permanently at the service and one person having a respite break. The service is located on a quiet residential road, close to local amenities. The service has five bedrooms, two situated on the ground floor and three on the first. Stairs and a passenger lift provide access from the ground floor to the first floor. Each bedroom has an en suite shower or wet room.

At the last inspection in November 2014, the service was rated good. This inspection found that the service remained good.

The home did not have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The previous registered manager had recently stepped down from this role and a recruitment process was underway. In the interim the provider’s operation manager was overseeing the service and provided support for the inspection. Downing Care (Alton) Ltd, the provider, operates three other services locally and specialises in providing services for adults with learning disabilities, with or without physical disabilities, and/or additional complex needs.

People told us they felt safe living at Jasmine House and were supported by kind and caring staff. Staff understood how to recognise and respond to abuse. There were sufficient numbers of experienced staff to meet people’s needs.

People’s medicines were managed safely. People had risk assessments and risk reduction measures were in place to help keep people safe.

People were encouraged to express their choices and these were respected. The leadership team understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and their dietary needs were met. Staff worked effectively with a range of other healthcare professionals to help ensure people’s health care needs were met.

Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of the people they were supporting. Staff were taking action to support people to access activities, follow their interests and where appropriate to access work opportunities.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the leadership of the service and of the provider. There was a positive and person centred culture within the home. Some of the management functions such as providing regular supervision and undertaking some audits had slipped, but the operations manager told us they would ensure action was taken to address this.

Care records were person centred and helped staff provide care which was in keeping with people’s needs and wishes, however in some places, the records relating to people’s care and support could be more accurate and clearly reflect the care people received.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The inspection of Jasmine House took place on 12 November 2014. Jasmine House is a care home for up to five young adults with a learning disability or autism. There were two people living at the home when we inspected, both of whom required a high level individual support to minimise the risk of them becoming agitated or frustrated.

Jasmine House is located in Alton, Hampshire, close to the town centre. The accommodation is over two floors and bedrooms are ensuite. The home has a lounge and a large kitchen/diner as well as a separate activities room and a sensory room. Plans were in place to install a passenger lift. The enclosed rear garden has a patio area and raised planters for vegetables.

The home has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People living at the home were not able to describe in detail their experiences of care, but we observed care and spoke with relatives. Their relatives were very complimentary about the quality of care provided at Jasmine House. They praised the management and staff and felt included. We were told, for example, that care was “Absolutely excellent,” there was good teamwork amongst the staff and people were “Treated as individuals.”

People were kept safe. Staff suitability was checked at recruitment to ensure they were safe to work with people with a learning disability. Risks were identified and managed, with steps taken to keep people safe from harm. The home was staffed with enough care workers to meet people’s individual needs and staff received training relevant to their roles. People’s medicines were managed to ensure people received them safely.

People were cared for by staff who knew and respected their specific preferences and needs. Staff demonstrated a very caring and friendly manner with people and communicated in ways that people understood and could respond to. They also supported people to maintain relationships with friends and relatives, and arranged their rotas to accommodate the specific needs of people and their families. Care was delivered with warmth and sensitivity. Care was personalised so people chose what they wanted to do or eat and staffing was organised to ensure care was consistent and met people’s emotional needs.

Management and staff at the home worked effectively with health and social care professionals and followed their advice when planning people’s care. Support was provided to maintain or improve people’s health and wellbeing, through regular appointments with health professionals such as GPs and providing care to minimise anxiety and frustration.

Care plans were developed in consultation with people, their families and others important in people’s lives. They provided guidance on how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. Where they had been assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions about their care, the manager followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) to ensure decisions were made in the person’s best interests. The CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the MCA and relates to promoting people’s rights to freedom of movement. We found the home was following the correct DoLS procedures.

The home was well led and there was an open and caring culture. The manager made herself available to staff, visitors and people using the service and was actively involved in all aspects of the service. There was a focus on monitoring safety and quality and making improvements to the home to improve people’s lives.

At the time of our inspection our records showed that Steven Golding was the registered manager at Jasmine House. We were told he had left, and a new manager had been appointed. The registered manager had not deregistered with CQC; therefore his name still remains on any reports until such time that this information is received.

During our visit we spoke with the operations manager, the new service manager and two support workers. We telephoned two relatives and a care manager from adult services to ask them for their views of care.

We observed that staff understood people’s needs and supported them in a kind, friendly and respectful manner. Relatives said that people, “Looked happy” at the home, and that staff tried to accommodate people’s wishes.

Staff showed a good understanding of how best to care for people, and people’s health and welfare was assessed and looked after appropriately. Relatives told us that people were assisted with their health care and there had been an improvement in the organisation of care at the home. One person said, “It’s a good home, I like the way things are done.”

We observed that people behaved in a relaxed way within the home and interacted well with staff. We found that staff were trained for their roles and received supervisions.

Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of the service and we saw that action was taken to make improvements in response to audits and feedback from staff and relatives.