Westbury House

Who the service is for

The service supports people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people. The people living at the service were older people.

Our view of the service

We carried out this assessment on 29 to 30 June 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ (RSRCRC) guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found the service was being provided in line with this guidance and people were being supported to lead positive and dignified lives.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of how to identify possible concerns and what action they needed to take to keep people safe. Staff knew how to raise concerns outside of the organisation if this was necessary. When incidents and accidents happened, staff reported these as appropriate. Action was taken to reduce the risk of incidents re-occurring. Staff told us learning from incidents was shared with them and they were kept informed of any changes to people’s support needs.

People’s physical and mental health needs had been risk assessed to ensure there were mitigations in place to keep people well and identify if they were becoming unwell. There was guidance for staff on how to support people to stay safe and what to do if they were becoming unwell. We did identify some discrepancies in the guidance for people’s support with constipation. However, this was addressed during the inspection, and monitoring systems were updated to prevent the concern from arising again.

There was enough staff to provide people with safe and effective support. Staff were well trained and knew how to provide support to people. Staff training was a mixture of online and face to face training. Staff told us they felt well supported by their managers and could raise issues or concerns if they needed to. Staff were recruited safely and underwent a supported probation period to ensure they were suitable for the role, and the role was right for them.

The environment was safe and suitable for people’s needs. Regular checks were undertaken to ensure the building was safe, such as gas safety checks. We did raise some concerns over the door to the basement being unlocked. However, there was a risk assessment in place regarding this, and the registered manager agreed to take action to reduce any risk further.

Most people had lived at the service for a long time. When people did move into the service, they were involved in the decision. Staff facilitated visits to the home as part of initial meetings and the assessment. This gave people the opportunity to meet each other and supported the person moving in to be involved in decision making about their future.

Staff understood how to monitor changes in people’s needs, and how to escalate these to health professionals where required. Staff were aware of and used nationally recognised best practice tools such as tools to assess risks to people from low or high weight. Staff understood and had applied the principles of STOMP (Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people). People’s medicines were safely managed. People received their medicines on time and as prescribed. Medicines were stored and disposed of safely.

People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions and had choice, control and freedom over their lives. Staff understood the principles of consent and mental capacity. We observed staff explain medication and gain consent when delivering care and treatment. People were able to easily move round the service, including people who used specialised wheelchairs.

There was a warm and friendly atmosphere at the service. The registered manager had a good oversight of staff culture and told us they guided staff to ensure people enjoyed life. The registered manager spent time on the floor working alongside staff on occasion and there were regular staff meetings which included elements of learning as well as discussions about people’s support needs. Staff were positive about communication at the service. One staff told us, “You can speak to everyone, we can share what is working and what is not. It’s good as you are always caught up and in the loop.”

There was a system of quality checks in place including a quarterly audit, undertaken by the regional operations manager on behalf of the provider. The registered manager kept up to date with current practices, through attending forums and interacting with health and social care professionals. Staff were aware of new guidance and up to date best practice such as guidance on supporting people with swallowing difficulties.