CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Highlands Road
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People told inspectors they felt safe. Risk assessments, medicines systems, staffing arrangements and safeguarding processes were in place and working as expected.
- Effective?
- Good
- Staff supported people to remain independent, make choices and develop skills. Staff had relevant training and people were supported with healthcare, food and drink.
- Caring?
- Good
- Inspectors observed kind, respectful and dignified interactions. People were involved in decisions about their care and their communication needs were recorded.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Support plans reflected people's preferences, interests and goals. People were supported to maintain relationships, take part in activities and raise complaints.
- Well-led?
- Good
- The home had clear management arrangements, regular audits and staff meetings. People, staff and healthcare professionals gave positive feedback about how it was led.
What inspectors found, May 2019
Highlands Road is rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and person-centred support across all five areas.
This was an unannounced planned inspection. One inspector visited on 10 March 2019, spoke with people and staff, gathered feedback from healthcare professionals, observed support and checked care, medicines, recruitment and management records.
The home supports up to four people with learning disabilities or autism. People said they were happy and felt safe. Inspectors found that staff understood people's communication needs, supported independence and treated people with dignity and respect.
All five areas were rated Good: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. The home was also rated Good at the previous inspection, published on 16 September 2016.
Safe medicines support
Medicines were managed in an organised way. Staff were trained and there was personalised guidance for medicines taken when needed.
“Medicines management systems were organised and people were receiving their medicines when they should.” from the report
Promoting independence
People were supported to make choices, learn skills and take part in education, hobbies and community activities.
“We promote independence as much as we can” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw people being treated with kindness, dignity and respect. People were involved in decisions and their privacy was protected.
“People were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.” from the report
Personalised support
Support plans recorded what mattered to each person, including their communication needs, preferences and future goals.
“Support plans were person-centred, meaning people were at the heart of how they wanted their care and support to be provided.” from the report
Positive management
Inspectors found clear responsibilities, regular quality checks and a culture where staff and residents could raise concerns.
“There were systems in place to monitor the safety and the quality of the service.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How will you involve my relative in creating and reviewing their support plan?
- 02How will staff support my relative's specific communication needs, and what accessible information will be provided?
- 03What activities, education or community groups could my relative take part in?
- 04How do you check that staffing levels still meet people's needs if those needs change?
- 05How will you support my relative with health checks, appointments and any emotional wellbeing needs?
This was an unannounced planned inspection covering the care home, the care provided and all five CQC questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 3 May 2019 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
What inspectors found, December 2016
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with some wear and tear and minor improvements needed.
The inspection took place on 1 November 2016. One inspector spoke with two people, two staff members and managers. They also observed care and checked care plans, medicines records, staff files, training, complaints and quality checks.
Inspectors found that people were kept safe, medicines were managed safely and staffing levels met people's assessed needs. Staff understood safeguarding, emergencies and risk management. People were supported to make choices and remain as independent as possible.
People described kind and respectful care. Care plans reflected people's needs, interests and preferences. People were supported with food, activities, employment and raising complaints. Inspectors also found good leadership and systems for checking care quality.
All five areas were rated Good: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The report noted some wear and tear, a bathroom needing refurbishment, some training needing renewal and a few management records or arrangements that needed attention.
People’s safety
Staff understood safeguarding and knew how to respond to concerns. Risk assessments helped people take safe risks while remaining independent.
“Risk assessments promoted independence whilst also ensuring people were kept safe from known hazards.” from the report
Kind and respectful support
Staff knew people well and treated them with respect. People were involved in decisions and supported to manage parts of their own lives.
“Interactions between people and staff were appropriate, compassionate and reflected the personality of the person they were supporting.” from the report
Personalised activities
People had individual activity timetables and were supported to pursue interests, including photography, sport and paid employment.
“People were supported to engage in activities that were meaningful to them.” from the report
People’s involvement
People helped with menus, shopping and decisions about the home. Meetings and feedback systems were used, and actions were taken when issues were raised.
“People played a key role in the running of the home, and told us they felt included when decisions were being made.” from the report
Good oversight
The manager used audits, meetings and discussions with people and relatives to monitor the service. Audits showed that resulting actions were dealt with promptly.
“The audits were detailed and showed that actions resulting from the audits were acted upon in a timely manner.” from the report
Wear and tear
minorSome parts of the home needed redecoration. The communal bathroom was usable but inspectors said it needed refurbishment and was not comfortable or attractive.
“Some areas of the service were showing signs of wear and tear and were in need of redecoration.” from the report
Training renewals
needs fixingTraining in health and safety, food safety, emergency first aid and infection control had lapsed for one staff member after an absence. The manager arranged forthcoming courses during the inspection.
“We highlighted some training which needed to be refreshed.” from the report
Care-plan changeover
needs fixingThe home was transferring all three care plans to a new recording system, but only one had been completed when inspectors visited.
“The registered manager was in the process of transferring all three care plans onto a new recording system and so far only one had been completed.” from the report
Management meetings
minorStaff meetings were not held regularly. Some regional manager visits had also lapsed during a change of regional managers.
“Staff meetings did not take place regularly, the last meeting was completed on 25 October 2016.” from the report
- 01Has the communal bathroom been refurbished and have the areas showing wear and tear been redecorated?
- 02Are all staff now up to date with health and safety, food safety, emergency first aid and infection control training?
- 03Have all three care plans been transferred to and reviewed using the new recording system?
- 04How often are staff meetings now held, and how are important changes shared with staff?
- 05How often does regional management visit the home, and how are actions from those visits followed up?
This was a planned inspection of the overall quality of the home, covering all five key questions; the inspector spoke with two people and reviewed selected records, including three care plans. This explanation was written from the published report of 3 December 2016 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Highlands Road
2 rated inspections over 2 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- May 2019Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- December 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- October 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- June 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- December 2010
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 December 2010.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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