This comprehensive inspection was carried out by one inspector and took place on 8 November 2016. The inspection was unannounced.

The Lawns provides accommodation with personal care for up to 12 people over the age of 18 who have a diagnosis of a learning disability. People had a range of care needs and some had communication difficulties associated with their learning disability. The home is staffed 24 hours a day. At the time of the inspection, eleven people had lived at the home for a number of years. The home is a large three storey house which also has a separate self-contained two bedroomed flat in an annexe. All bedrooms were for single occupancy, two rooms on the second floor of the main house were en-suite and had a small kitchenette and sitting room. These two rooms as well as the two in the annexe allowed people to live semi-independently. At the time of inspection, 10 people were living in the main house and one person was living in the annexe.

The service was previously inspected in October 2013 when the service was found compliant with all the regulations inspected.

The home was well-run by a registered manager, who had worked in the service since it had started in 1992. They described their passion and commitment to the people at The Lawns Care Home, which was evident throughout the inspection. In October 2016, they had registered with the CQC as the 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 provider also worked at the home most days of the week. People, their families and staff were all very complimentary about the provider, the registered manager and the home. Comments included “fantastic people” and “Both of them are so wonderful.” Staff were also described really positively, for example “always supporting [my relative] to get the most out of life.”

The provider and registered manager had a clear vision for the home and the people who lived there. They described how they, and the staff, were committed to ensuring people were supported to live as independently as possible. The home’s statement of purpose described how the main aim of the service was ‘‘to enable people with learning difficulties to lead a fulfilled life… encouraging and working with the Service User to be fully integrated into the community in which they live and to take part in its activities according to their individual needs, abilities and interests.’ Throughout the inspection we found evidence that these aims were lived up to. Staff followed these principles, treating people with kindness, friendliness and compassion. Staff made sure people had time to decide what they wanted to do both in the home and outside. People were then supported to do their choice of activity.

People were at the heart of the service and were involved in decisions about the home and the support they wanted. Activities were inclusive so everyone was supported to take part. People were happy and excited about what they were doing throughout the inspection. People were encouraged to be part of the local community. For example, people were involved in lots of local celebrations of festivities, including helping to make decorations for a Christmas tree as part of a local church Christmas Tree festival. The home also took an active part in the town’s Goose Fair which was held each year, having a stall to sell produce they had made. People also described how they were involved in drama sessions which led to a production, as well as planning a trip to a pantomime. People chatted to staff about these activities as well as describing other visits and trips they had done. These included holidays and day trips to local attractions. A r

On the day of our visit we were told that there were 12 people living at The Lawns. We spoke to all 12 people living at the home, spent time observing the care people were receiving, spoke to four members of staff, which included the unregistered manager and owner and looked at two people’s care files in detail.

Before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and staff acted in accordance with their wishes.

We spent time talking to people who lived at The Lawns and observing the interactions between them and staff. People’s comments included: “I love it here. We do lots of activities”; “We are going out this afternoon, looking forward to it”; “I go out when I want to, been shopping this morning” and “The staff look after me well.”

Medicines were safely administered. We saw the medication records which were appropriately signed by staff when administering a person’s medication.

Staff were able to speak confidently about the care practices they delivered and understood how they contributed to people’s health and wellbeing.

Care plans and risk assessments demonstrated that they had been reviewed and updated on a regular basis or in response to changing needs.

We looked at the care plans for all twelve people. We observed people being supported by staff. We saw that people's privacy, dignity and independence was respected and that people's views and experiences were taken into account. People told us "I like it here" and "you wouldn't find a better home".

The provider had assessed people's needs and put in place plans to meet people's needs. We found staff were following these plans. Individual risk assessments were in place to help people to develop independence. One person told us "I've learnt to get the bus on my own".

We found that all staff had been trained in safeguarding and the staff we spoke to were able to tell us what they would do if abuse was suspected, witnessed or alleged. One person told us "if I had any problems, I'd go to staff for them to sort it out".

The provider ensured there was sufficient staffing to meet people's needs and made additional staff available for activities when needed. We found that staff were appropriately skilled and experienced. People told us "staff look after us properly" and "staff are very nice".

We found the provider had systems in place to seek the views of people using the service and their family members and that they took account of these views to make changes. The provider also learnt from investigations carried out making changes as a result.