Cheshire House in Greater Manchester is rated ‘Outstanding’ by CQC
Manager, Charlotte and the team at Cheshire House are celebrating having been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Specialising in residential support and accommodation for up to eight adults with a mental health need and/or learning disability, Cheshire House was rated as Outstanding in the key areas of responsive and well-led and Good in the key areas of safe, effective and caring.
During the inspection in November, Inspectors reported that staff were wholly committed to providing excellent person-centred care and supporting people to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Absolute respect for people’s privacy, dignity and independence were central to the ethos of Cheshire House and people were exceptionally well-supported to take positive risks to increase their independence and achieve their personal goals.
Inspectors also reported staff were exceptionally kind and caring. They knew people, their needs and how to support them very well and people spoke openly and positively about how the staff supported them. One person said, “The staff are polite, compliment me, help me and encourage me.” This was confirmed by a relative who said, “The relationships [name] has developed with the staff has had a big influence; he is more settled now and his behaviours have improved.”
Inspectors agreed that service leadership was exceptional and distinctive and the culture they created drove and improved high-quality person-centred care. People’s wishes, diverse needs and aspirations were at the heart of the culture and staff embraced and were committed to the services vision and values, resulting in people’s achievements being celebrated by the whole team.
Inspectors reported that people’s care, treatment and support achieve positive outcomes and promotes a good quality of life, noting that since Cheshire House became involved in people’s lives they had improved and changed dramatically.
One person had been successfully supported to move on from Cheshire House to a more independent flat after spending years in a long stay hospital setting prior to Cheshire House. One staff member said, “It was about how staff worked with [name] and involved him, not telling him what to do, which meant he was able to move on.”
This was confirmed by a relative who told inspectors, “You can see the results in [names] life. He had seven placements in six months and was then hospitalised. Cheshire House have stuck with him and you can see he’s much more settled and there’s been an improvement in his behaviour.”
Inspectors also reported when people made decisions about personal goals they want to complete, staff gave them exceptional support. The person’s goal was broken down into each new skills they needed to learn and practice. This empowering approach was key to helping people improve their independence.
This was confirmed by professionals who were extremely positive about the support at Cheshire House and told inspectors the service worked exceptionally well with them to agree people’s plans and work towards achieving their goals.
Inspectors reported staff worked extremely closely with people to find highly personalised activities, which they thoroughly enjoyed. The activities impacted very positively on their well-being and were constantly reviewed with people so they were extremely responsive to people’s changes, needs, interests and wishes.
People were also exceptionally well supported to take positive risks in a planned and monitored environment. One person said, I’ve started to go out on my own, with the staff being close by. I’m building up so I can go out by myself when I’m confident to do so.”
This was confirmed by a relative who said, “I’m really happy at the moment, [names] on a prolonged and settled period and has constructive activities to do each day.”
During the inspection the inspector spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. Inspectors also spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, learning disability nurse, team leader, care workers and the providers positive behaviour support specialist. Two people’s care and medicine records were reviewed as well as a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
Charlotte Edwards, Service Manager at Cheshire House said, “Empowering the people we support to understand the possibilities of what they can achieve and the opportunities open to them is an incredibly important part of what we do as it helps them to recognise and take ownership of the goals that are important to them and to have maximum choice and control over their lives.”
“As a team, we then support people to take positive risks to achieve those goals, to grow in independence and ultimately to enjoy a better quality of life. I am delighted that our hard work commitment and positive outcomes have been recognised by the CQC rating us ‘Outstanding’ overall.”
“Eddie Morgan, Managing Director of Consensus said, “I am delighted for Chris and the team at Cheshire House. Achieving a rating of ‘Outstanding’ truly reflects the team’s commitment to putting the people they support at the heart of everything they do and recognizes the exceptional quality of support and exceptional outcomes individuals are achieving.”
Cheshire House, located in Sale, Cheshire, comprises of eight self-contained flats within a residential care home, that provide a good standard of accommodation for people using the service. The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.