The Care Quality Commission has rated the quality of care provided by
The Ridgeway, a supported living service in Romford, Essex, as
Outstanding.
The Ridgeway, which provides supported living services and support
with personal care to people with learning disabilities and complex
needs, is one of the first care services to receive the top rating under
CQC’s new approach to inspection.
During an unannounced inspection of the service, run by Care
Management Group, in July, CQC found that staff had the skills,
knowledge and experience they needed to support people effectively. This
included understanding their communication needs and supporting them to
make choices about the food they wanted to eat and the activities they
wanted to take part in.
People told inspectors that they were supported to be independent,
and inspectors saw that they were active in the local community.
Everyone living at the service had been supported to find part time
employment. Some were also involved in local volunteering, including
campaigning on learning disability issues. The provider organised social
events which brought together people living at the service and their
friends and relatives.
People living at the service told inspectors that staff understood
their needs, listened to them, and made them feel valued.
Care plans
were detailed, and people and their relatives were involved in making
decisions about the support they received. People and their relatives
knew the management team and told us they would feel comfortable raising
concerns if they needed to. Staff told us their managers were
approachable.
A full report has been published on the CQC website today:
www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-335364572.
Sally Warren, Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care in London, said:
“We found that The Ridgeway was providing an outstanding service to
people it supported and the team there should be extremely proud of the
work they do.
“What really struck us about this service was the level of
personalised support that people received, from staff who had the right
skills and who treated people with great kindness. People told us they
liked the staff who supported them, and one relative told us the care
that their loved one received was second to none.
“People should always be cared for by services that are safe,
effective, caring, responsive to their needs, and well led. I’d
encourage other providers to read this report, and the others we have
published on services we have rated Outstanding, to see what they can
learn.”
Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“The quality of care which our inspectors found here was outstanding
and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the achievements of this
service.
“An outstanding service is the result of a tremendous amount of hard
work and commitment. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone
involved.”
Source: Press Release, cqc.org.uk
