Care home for young adults with autism and learning difficulties praised by inspectors

• Staff go ‘above and beyond’ to ensure people are well treated and supported”
• Residents are treated with “compassion, kindness, dignity and respect”
• Home manager is described as a “fantastic leader” by colleagues

Inspectors have praised staff at a Somerset care home, revealing the “above and beyond” support they provide to young adults with autism, learning difficulties and mental health needs.

Priory Radstock Satellite care home, also known as Redfield Road, is rated as ‘good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following its most recent inspection. The home is also rated as ‘good’ in every category: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Inspectors observed that the home’s dedicated team went “above and beyond to ensure people were well treated and supported”, and that they treated residents with “compassion, kindness, dignity and respect”.

Inspectors also praised the management team at the home, which is run by Priory, the UK’s leading independent provider of mental health and rehabilitation services. The report states that “people's needs were met through good organisation and delivery”.

The CQC said they saw residents smiling and enjoying activities with others in the service, and noted that activities ranged from a garden water fights and a BBQ in summer, to trips out swimming, visiting a farm and going for lunch.

Heart-warming levels of care were recorded in their report, with stories of how residents were supported to live their life, whether during day-to-day activities or during life-changing moments.

Inspectors said in the report: “When people experienced big changes or profound events, staff amended their working pattern to support them. For example, one person experienced a bereavement and staff stayed, overnight, to support the person. When another person was moving out of the service, staff visited the person on their non-working day to say goodbye.

“When people entered into romantic relationships, staff supported them to maintain their privacy and dignity without compromising their safety. For example, staff provided people with access to walkie-talkies so they could alert staff if they needed support.”

Priory Radstock Satellite (Redfield Road), located in Midsomer Norton in Somerset, offers specialist residential services and aims to support residents to develop their independence, enabling them to reach their full potential.

The specialist service offers a low stimulus, relaxed environment, with access to a consultant psychiatrist, a multi-disciplinary team and on-site full-time ‘positive behaviour support’. Residents are supported to access education opportunities at a mainstream college, with residents supported to progress through a care ‘pathway’ to enable them to live as independently as possible.

Home manager Rebecca Coward, who was described as a “fantastic leader” in the CQC report, said: “The team here deserve every bit of praise; it means a lot to all of us to receive official recognition for the work we do. Ultimately, though, we do this for the people we support. As noted in the report, our residents have hopes and aspirations and we’re here to help them through their struggle to reach their goals.”

Rebekah Cresswell, Priory CEO, said: “We are proud of our dedicated team, who deliver our Priory purpose every day by supporting our residents to live their life. Providing this level of care takes passion and commitment. Our colleagues deserve this recognition; the work they do day in, day out, is inspirational.”

ENDS

Contact: [email protected]

About Priory and MEDIAN

Priory is the UK’s leading independent provider of mental health services. We treat more than 70 conditions, including depression, anxiety, addictions and eating disorders, as well as children’s mental health, across our nationwide network of sites. We also support autistic adults and adults with a learning disability, Prader-Willi Syndrome and brain injuries, as well as older people, within our specialist residential care and supported living facilities – helping as many people as possible to live their lives.

Priory is part of the MEDIAN Group, one of Europe’s leading providers of high quality mental health and rehabilitation services. The MEDIAN Group comprises 290 facilities with 5,000 beds caring for 28,000 people in the UK, 120 facilities with 20,000 beds caring for around 250,000 patients in Germany, and 15 facilities with 2,000 beds caring for 13,000 people in Spain, with more than 29,000 employees overall.