Yarrow Housing Limited - 1-2 Elmfield Way

Updated 13 June 2024

Yarrow Housing 1-2 Elmfield Way is a ‘care home’ without nursing care. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Date of Assessment: 15 July to 30 September 2024. The reason for this assessment was because of the length of time since the last inspection and to review the service following an incident that had occurred in April 2024. During this assessment we received assurances that the risks relating to this incident had been investigated and mitigated as much as possible, to help prevent a repeat occurrence. At the time of our assessment 3 people were living in the home. The last rating for this service was good (published 2 March 2022).

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.

People received safe care, were protected from abuse and had their human rights promoted. The service followed safe recruitment processes and there were enough staff to support people. People’s medicines were safely managed. Care and risk management plans were individualised and met people’s needs. Staff knew people well and knew how they liked to be supported. There was a clear management structure and staff felt supported. The provider sought feedback from people, relatives and staff and used this to develop the service. There were effective systems to monitor the quality of the service and identify when improvements were required.

Updated 13 June 2024

An Expert by Experience supported this assessment and spoke with 3 people’s relatives on the telephone. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Some people living in the home had their own communication style, which could only be learnt over time. To help us capture the experiences of people using the service, who may not be able to express these for themselves, we carried out observations during our visit to the home, which included the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Staff supported people to have the maximum possible choice and control over their own lives and be as independent as possible. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. People had a choice about their home environment and were able to personalise their rooms. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in the local area, and connect with other people who had shared interests. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome. One person told us they were supported to do the things they wanted to. They said they did not feel their disability caused them any disadvantage.