Bamburgh House

Bamburgh House provides accommodation and personal care for up to three people who have a learning disability and/or autistic spectrum disorder. Bamburgh House is a detached chalet bungalow style property with a first floor self contained flat and has been adapted for the purpose. The service is situated in a residential area of Thorrington, Colchester and is close to local amenities. Each person using the service has their own individual bedroom and adequate communal facilities are available for people to make use of within the service. At the time of our inspection three people were using the service.

At our last inspection of this service on 30 November 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People continued to feel safe. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm and risks to people were assessed and monitored regularly. Staffing levels ensured that people's care and support needs were continued to be met safely and safe recruitment processes continued to be in place.

Medicines continued to be managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.

People continued to be supported by staff who had the right skills, knowledge and experience. CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). DoLS applications had been made to ensure that people were only deprived of their liberty, when it had been assessed as lawful to do so.

People's needs and choices continued to be assessed and their care provided in line with up to date guidance and best practice. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and all health needs were met with the support from staff.

People continued to have access to healthcare services and were involved in monitoring their health needs. Staff understood how to prevent and manage behaviours that may challenge the service.

People had developed positive relationships with staff and there was a friendly, calm, relaxed atmosphere within the service. Staff knew people's likes, dislikes and preferences well and supported them to engage in activities of interest.

People continued to be treated with dignity and respect and staff ensured their privacy was maintained. People were encouraged to make decisions about how their care was provided.

There were policies and systems in place that ensured people would be listened to and treated fairly if they complained about the service.

The service was kept clean and hygienic. People were protected by the prevention and control of infection.

There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service.

The organisation's visions and values centred around the people they supported, which ensured their equality, diversity and human rights were respected.

Quality assurance audits were carried out to identify any shortfalls within the service and how the service could improve.

Further information is in the detailed findings below and in our last comprehensive report completed for the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found