Weston Villa is a residential service that provides care for up to 9 people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were 4 people living in the home. At the last inspection, in January 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service remained Good.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to people to meet their needs. People were consistently protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and ongoing professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

Staff continued to support people in a way that was kind, caring and courteous. People’s individuality was understood and this enabled staff to work effectively with people to enable them to reach their goals.

Staff were committed to supporting people in a way that focused on responding to areas of people’s lives where they faced particular challenges. The staff team was consistent in their approach and staff developed positive relationships with people, which were focussed on enabling people to overcome their individual challenges and meet their aspirations.

People had detailed personalised plans of care in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences. These plans were focussed on enabling people to progress and learn new life skills that would enhance their wellbeing and staff worked consistently with people to enable them to reach their goals.

People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint; the provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive. The feedback about the home complimented the staff for their understanding of people’s needs and consistent approach in helping people to reach their goals.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager was a visible role model in the home. People, their relatives and staff told us that they had confidence in the manager’s ability to provide consistently high quality managerial oversight and leadership to the home.

This unannounced inspection took place on 6 January 2015. Weston Villa is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to four people who live with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. There were three people living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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.

People who used the service were well looked after by a staff team that had an in-depth understanding of how people wanted to be supported. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and treated them with dignity, respect and patience.

There was sufficient staff on duty to keep people safe. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and the reporting procedures to follow if they wanted to raise any concerns.

We found there was sufficient staff available to meet people’s individual care and support needs. Safe and effective recruitment practices were followed.

The procedures to manage risks associated with the administration of medicines were followed by staff working at the service. There were suitable arrangements for the safe storage, management and disposal of medicines.

People were supported to have sufficient to eat and drink to maintain a balanced diet and food choices were plentiful.

CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and reports on what we find. DoLS are a code of practice to supplement the main Mental Capacity Act 2005. These safeguards protect the rights of adults by ensuring that if there are restrictions on their freedom and liberty these are assessed by appropriately trained professionals. The manager had knowledge of the MCA 2005 and DoLS legislation and referrals for a DoLS authorisation had been made so that people’s rights would be protected.

Staff received Induction, training and regular supervision and appraisal which enabled them to carry out their job role effectively. The service is flexible and responsive to people’s individual needs and preferences, finding creative ways to enable people to live as full a life as possible. The arrangements for social activities, and where appropriate education and work, were innovative and met people’s individual needs.

There was a system in place to monitor the quality of the service and action had been taken when necessary to make any improvements.

Staff understood their role and had confidence in the way the service was managed.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service, because the people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not able to tell us their experiences. We spent time observing people, talked to members of staff who knew people well and looked at returned satisfaction surveys completed by relatives of people who used the service.

We saw that each person had a care plan for decision making which outlined how they were enabled to make and communicate decisions. It also outlined who should be involved in making decisions in their best interests if they were unable to understand a more complex decision.

We saw that care records contained relevant information for staff to meet people's individual care needs. This included information about people's preferred routines and how staff should support people’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

We spoke with three staff members about safeguarding, they were able to tell us about their role in safeguarding people from the risks of abuse and harm. We looked at the minutes to a recent staff meeting and saw that staff had discussed safeguarding and how to report concerns.

We saw that there were systems in place to monitor care records; the care people received; medication; risk assessments, infection control and health and safety.

We observed staff talking with and assisting people throughout the visit, this was done with the peoples’ privacy and dignity in mind and showed the staffs’ awareness of peoples individual support needs.

We looked at the quality assurance feedback where people were asked to comment if they were satisfied with the services provided in the home and could add comments or return these anonymously if they wished. We noted comments such as “Everyone working with (relationship supplied) are excellent, they know his needs and emotions, the home has a friendly atmosphere and happy. This is a happy place for my (relationship supplied) which makes me happy and in a good place with myself, thanks you to everybody”. Another stated “All the staff know my relatives wants, needs, likes and dislikes really well which is very important for us to be told when a person is non verbal all that is happening, we feel very happy that staff care for my relative”.

Staff demonstrated they were aware how to support and protect people. This was reflected in peoples’ support plans, risk assessments and other supporting paperwork we viewed.