The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the rating of The Old Red Lion in Treswell, Nottinghamshire, from good to outstanding following an inspection in March.
The Old Red Lion, run by Creative Care (East Midlands) Limited, which is owned by Consensus, is a residential care home providing support to younger adults. It supports autistic people and people with a learning disability and was supporting seven people at the time of the inspection. CQC carried out this inspection as part of its routine monitoring of services.
CQC assessed the service using its Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture guidance. This guidance assesses whether a service guarantees autistic people and people with a learning disability the respect, equality, dignity, choice, independence and access to local communities that most people take for granted.
CQC has upgraded the ratings for how safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led the home is, from good to outstanding.
Greg Rielly, CQC Deputy Director of Adult Social Care in the East Midlands, said:
“We found leaders and staff at The Old Red Lion went above and beyond to make sure people felt safe, supported and comfortable in their home. We were incredibly impressed by how much staff and leaders considered people’s individual needs and were committed to helping people live happy and fulfilling lives.
“We were encouraged by the warm and patient interactions we saw between staff and the people they supported, and it was positive to hear about the strong relationships they had built.
“People were relaxed around staff and could go to them for reassurance, and staff had worked hard to learn each person’s communication style to communicate with them in ways they could understand. Staff genuinely cared about the people they cared for, which was helping them achieve their goals and ambitions.
“Also, relatives were very happy with the care their loved ones received and shared examples of positive changes since moving into the home, which included improvements in confidence, emotional stability, independence and quality of life. The home kept relatives updated, which was really valued, and they felt included in their loved one’s care.
“We also found the home gave people the opportunity to take part in education and upskilling to learn practical and life skills, helping to develop their independence, communication and confidence. Staff tailored learning to ensure people had achievable steps to succeed at their own pace.
“The Old Red Lion’s leaders and staff should be proud of the many positive findings in our report, which other care organisations should read as an example of outstanding practice.”
Inspectors found:
Staff understood people’s individual needs and preferences, including making adaptations to rooms to ensure people were comfortable and maintained good emotional wellbeing.
Leaders had embedded a culture at the home to constantly go above and beyond expectations and enhance people’s lives.
The home made people’s wellbeing a priority. Staff provided thoughtful, compassionate support during times when people felt anxious or stressed and used calming strategies, predictable routines, sensory tools and safe spaces to help people understand and work through their feelings.
The Old Red Lion worked closely with partners to provide safe, consistent care and helped people move between services smoothly. When people needed to attend hospital, the home had communication passports so hospital teams knew how best to support and communicate with people. This helped people have better experiences of care by reducing distress and improving decision-making.
Staff assessed people’s needs well and kept these under close review, as they knew these could change quickly. This meant the care they provided was responsive, which was made possible by staff knowing people exceptionally well.
The home was committed to reducing restrictions, while leaders and staff applied learnings from previous incidents to make positive changes that improved people’s independence and autonomy.
