‘Warm and friendly’ St Leonards home rated outstanding by inspectors

43 Sedlescombe Road South, which provides social and residential care for up to six people with learning disabilities, was deemed to be ‘outstanding’ in the areas of responsiveness and leadership, and ‘good’ in areas of care, safety and effectiveness – giving it the top possible rating overall.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the home over two days. In the subsequent report, it said: “The service went above and beyond to support people and their families in making the transition to the service as smooth and positive as possible. The service went to great lengths to determine if people had any concerns or were unhappy about the care they received.

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“There were commendable systems to ensure people were supported to attend health care appointments.

“People’s needs were effectively met because staff had the specialist training and skills they needed to meet people’s complex needs.

“People were observed to be relaxed and content in their surroundings and there was a warm and friendly atmosphere.

“There was excellent leadership with very good lines of communication between the staff team and the registered manager.

“Staff felt supported and spoke positively of the registered manager. There were robust systems for reviewing the quality of the care and support provided and the owners were involved regularly to check on the running of the service.

“The registered manager worked tirelessly with other agencies to improve services for people locally.”

The inspectors also spoke with relatives of people at the home, who were very positive about the service.

One said staff at the home had a ‘can do attitude and carry things through’, adding: “They have a plan for (relative) that I believe will happen. He now has a future.”