Watery Lane Cottage

Watery Lane Cottage is a care home providing personal care and nursing care for up to 3 people. The service supports people who are deafblind, and may have additional complex needs, including learning disabilities.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee how autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture is the statutory guidance which supports Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

People were supported by caring staff who knew them well. We observed positive and respectful interactions throughout the assessment. Staff communicated effectively using people’s preferred communication methods, helping to create an inclusive environment. People were encouraged to take part in everyday activities such as preparing meals.

Staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and were confident about reporting concerns to help keep people safe. Care and support plans detailed information about people’s communication needs, health conditions and support they required. Medicines were managed safely.

The provider reviewed incidents and discussed them during team meetings. However, systems for recording and evidencing learning from incidents were not yet fully embedded.

The home was clean, well maintained and free from unpleasant odours. While some high-risk actions identified through the provider’s fire risk assessment had not been completed, the provider acted during the assessment to address these concerns.

The provider had a range of audits in place to monitor quality and make improvements. However, these systems were not yet fully embedded and had not consistently identified or addressed all the issues we found during the assessment.

Staffing vacancies had at times impacted on continuity of support for both people using the service. This was because agency staff had not always been trained in British Sigh Language (BSL), resulting in regular staff often providing additional support to meet people’s communication needs.

Staff told us they received training needed for their roles. However, some deaf staff described difficulties accessing BSL interpreters for training sessions which meant deaf staff did not always have the same development opportunities as other staff.

External professionals spoke positively about the care and support provided by staff. However, some felt communication and sharing of information could be timelier.

Staff told us the service had experienced several management changes in recent years but were optimistic that the newly appointed registered manager would provide greater stability and continuity.

The service demonstrated the principles of Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture by promoting people’s choice, independence, wellbeing and inclusion within their local community.