Udal Garth

Updated 31 January 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

Udal Garth is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Udal Garth is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection We gave a short period notice of the inspection because it was carried out at the weekend. We needed to be sure a manager would be available to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Some people living at Udal Garth were not able to verbally share their views of the service, so we observed how they spent their time and how they interacted with staff. We spoke with 2 people, 5 staff members, including the registered and deputy managers; and received written feedback from 2 relatives. We reviewed 2 people’s care plans, a range of medicines administration records (MARs) and a range of records relating to the management of the service such as audits and meeting minutes.

Updated 31 January 2023

About the service

Udal Garth is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 8 people. The service provides support to people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

People made choices and took part in meaningful activities which were part of their planned care and support.

People who experienced periods of distress had plans in place which helped ensure staff understood how to support them safely.

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People’s care and support was provided in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment which met their sensory and physical needs.

Staff worked in partnership with external organisations so people could access the health and social care they needed.

People were supported with their medicines in a way that was safe and met their preferences.

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

Right Care:

Staff actively promoted equality and diversity when supporting people. They understood each person’s unique needs and preferences and tailored the support they provided around these. People enjoyed undertaking activities and interests they were interested in. They were given the opportunity by staff to actively engage in and try new activities.

People were protected from abuse and poor care. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet their needs and keep them safe.

Risk assessments were in place relating to people’s health and care needs. Where appropriate, positive risk taking was encouraged and enabled. Staff supported changes that individuals might want to make and assessed risks continuously.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care, support and treatment from trained staff and specialists who were able to meet their needs and wishes. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive to immediate requests for support as well as longer-term goals. People appeared comfortable and confident in the service and with the staff who supported them.

The registered manager was keen to enable people to live a meaningful life every day. This ethos was reflected in the staff team. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of the service.

People and those important to them, including advocates, were actively involved in planning their care.

The registered manager and staff regularly checked and evaluated all aspects of the service. This helped identify any areas for improvement.

The registered manager was supported by senior managers to maintain the quality of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at

Rating at last inspection The last rating for this service was good (published 16 May 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.