Little Heath Court

The service is required to have a registered manager. There was a registered manager in post who had been registered to manage the service 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. This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 12 December 2017.

At the last inspection in October 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated good.

The service remained safe. People's safety was contributed to by staff who had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and health and safety policies and procedures. Staff understood how to protect people and who to alert if they had any concerns. General risks and risks related to the needs of individual people were identified and appropriate action was taken to reduce them.

There were enough staff on duty at all times to meet people's diverse, individual needs safely. The service had a stable staff team. When new staff were recruited they had systems in place to ensure, that as far as possible, they were safe and suitable to work with people. People were given their medicines safely, at the right times and in the right amounts by trained and competent staff.

The service remained effective. Staff were well-trained and able to meet people's health and well-being needs. They were able to respond effectively to people's current and changing needs. The service sought advice from and worked with health and other professionals to ensure they met people's needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service continued to be caring. The dedicated, attentive and knowledgeable staff team provided care with kindness and respect. Individualised care planning ensured people's equality and diversity was respected. People were provided with a wide variety of activities, according to their needs, abilities, health and preferences.

The service was rated outstanding in responsive. We noted considerable and sustained improvements in the overall responsiveness to people's needs and preferences. In particular the communication needs of people were understood and there was a consistent response to people's individual communication needs. Imaginative ways had been sought to assist people to communicate more effectively including the use of assistive technology. Some people had experienced significant and exemplary enhancements to their quality of life experiences.

The service was very well led by a registered manager who was committed to enabling people to live their lives to the full and to provide a safe and enabling environment which people called their home. The registered manager received regular praise and positive feedback from staff, relatives and professionals. There was a strong emphasis on team working and staff confirmed they worked well together. They involved people and their relatives in contributing to all aspects of the service and sought views and feedback in order to improve and develop. The registered manager and provider continually monitored the quality of the service and made improvements where needed.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found