The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the rating of HF Trust – Hollycroft in Bedfordshire from requires improvement to outstanding, following an inspection that finished in January this year.
HF Trust – Hollycroft, run by HF Trust Limited, is a residential care home that supports autistic people or people living with a learning disability. The service can support up to seven people, and six people were living there at the time of the inspection.
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.
Following this inspection, CQC has also raised the ratings for caring and well-led from requires improvement to outstanding, and for safe and effective from requires improvement to good. CQC has rated it good again for being responsive.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of adult social care in the East of England, said:
“When we inspected HF Trust – Hollycroft, we found a service that had undergone a truly remarkable transformation. This improvement from requires improvement to outstanding is exceptional and reflects the dedication and hard work of the registered manager and the entire staff team.
“We found a compassionate and highly effective leadership team who placed people firmly at the centre of everything the service does. Leaders supported staff to consistently deliver outstanding, person-centred care in line with CQC’s right support, right care, right culture guidance, so everyone felt truly involved and valued.
“People appeared happy and relaxed in their home. Staff supported people to pursue their interests and ambitions. For example, one person had a keen interest in dogs and had been supported to volunteer as a dog walker. Staff supported people to build friendships, develop relationships and become active members of their local community.
“People and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support provided. One relative told us staff know people well and exactly what to do to get the best out of them. People living at Hollycroft were also involved in recruiting new staff to the home They asked questions in ways that suited their preferred communication style and had a genuine say in whether a candidate was the right fit for the service.
“Staff responded effectively to people’s changing needs and updated care plans promptly to reflect these. They worked closely with health professionals, including reviewing the use of anxiety medicines and exploring alternative approaches to support people’s wellbeing.
“All of the staff at HF Trust – Hollycroft should be really proud of the exceptional care they delivered. Other services should look at this report as an example of outstanding practice, to promote improvements across the sector and to support people to lead their best lives.”
Inspectors also found:
- Staff worked creatively to build people’s independence, including supporting one person to use public transport independently to visit a relative.
- Staff discussed people’s individual interests with them and supported them to follow these, including planning and booking holidays built specifically around each person’s favourite activities.
- The home built strong ties with the local community. People are supported to attend local community activities such as a dedicated coffee morning for people who communicate using signs.
- Hollycroft supported people to develop practical skills such as cooking and shopping. One person proudly told inspectors they could cook a Sunday roast almost entirely by themselves.