This inspection took place on 10, 16 and 23 July 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location was a care home for people with a learning difficulty, who needed to be advised and prepared for the inspection.

Victoria House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The home is registered to provide support for up to nine people over two floors. It is a single home converted from three terraced houses. Residential care is provided for people with a learning disability, physical disability or those with an autistic type condition. Nursing care is not provided at the home. On all three days of the inspection there were nine people using the service.

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. Registering the Right Support CQC policy

The home had a registered manager who had been registered since May 2017. 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 were aware of safeguarding issues and were confident about reporting any concerns around potential abuse. The home was working actively with services on issues external to the home. Monitoring was in place with regard to people’s financial affairs.

Checks were carried out on the equipment and safety of the home. The majority of checks carried out on systems and equipment were satisfactory. However, on the first day of the inspection we found upstairs rooms did not have window restrictors fitted. By the second day of the inspection this had been rectified. A risk assessment with regard to legionella was planned to be completed by the end of the month. Fire drills were undertaken at the home, although we noted none had taken place during the night shift. By the second day of the inspection the deputy manager had undertaken fire drills later in the evening and had also worked with the local Fire Service on a new fire plan for night staff. Personal emergency evacuation plans were not always detailed but contained information specific to the individual’s support needs.

People’s care plans contained risk assessments linked to their individual care plans. However, it was not clear how the levels of risk had been arrived at. We also found some areas of risk were not comprehensively covered or the level of risk did not reflect that detailed in local authority review documents. The home was maintained in a clean and tidy manner.

People and staff told us they felt there were enough staff on duty. Staff told us they were able to accompany people to access the community and support them with their personal care needs. Proper recruitment procedures and checks were in place to ensure staff employed by the service had the correct skills and experience.

Medicines at the home were managed appropriately. Medicines were safely stored and regular checks were made on stock levels and administration. Staff had received training with regard the safe handling of medicines.

Staff had an understanding of issues related to equality and diversity and what it meant for people using the service. They told us they had access to a range of training and updating and records confirmed this. They confirmed they had access to regular supervision and an annual appraisal and records supported this.

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