Membership review for Errol House

 

The contents of this review are intended to cover some of the subjects and issues which an individual, their relatives or their placement officer might ask. This review has been published with the written agreement of the home owner, or an authorised representative of the company.
 

Errol House provides warm and homely accommodation for individuals looking for short periods of care away from their usual environment. The home is furnished with adaptations and equipment to cater for the needs of individuals with a diverse range of disabilities. I found the Registered Manager and staff to be very open, helpful and friendly and the house to be comfortable and inviting. The home has been open since 1999 and seems to have become very much part of the community. Although not an autism specific placement, there are currently a dozen individuals with autism who regularly access the short breaks service.

 

I would see the service as being suited to individuals with autism with additional physical and /or learning disabilities and potentially health or medical needs, but less suited to individuals with high levels of challenging behaviour.

 

The information set out in the Errol House profile was also found to be correct as stated.
 

Errol House is situated on the main road running through the small town of Boston Spa. It is a six bedded short term break residential service for adults with physical and learning disabilities and autistic spectrum conditions between the ages of 16 and 65. Individuals can stay at Errol House when, and for how long, they want to, for example just for one night or for a couple of weeks.

 

The last inspection from the Care Quality Commission found the service to be a Good service.
 

Errol House is on the main road, however, the entrance to the building is at the side and you need to turn down the side road to access. Parking is potentially an issue and street parking, unless you are a resident of the area, is strictly limited. It might actually be a good idea to park in the Library car park further down the High Street and walk a short way back down to the house.

 

The majority of the garden area is to the front of the property and is sectioned off into different areas allowing for activities and for just enjoying sitting out. Errol House also has a really nice summer house surrounded by decking. The summer house can be utilised as a ‘sensory room’, but this clearly had not been the case for a while and I imagine would be more of an activity for the summer months anyway.

 

The Wilf Ward Family Trust has no maintenance team or gardener, thus the staff at Errol House source assistance locally.

 

The House is on the main road (although set back a little from it) through Boston Spa which can be fairly busy. The noise from cars driving past might not be immediately noticeable whilst in the house; however, it could be to someone with autism who is noise sensitive. Barbara (Registered Manager) did mention that some individuals with autism stayed in rooms toward the back of the house to make this less of an issue.

 

The examples of bedrooms I was shown were quite large, clean and tastefully decorated in muted colours. Errol House being a short break service has understandable limits with regard to the personalisation of rooms, but individuals are encouraged to bring along whatever belongings they would like to have with them during their short break. Five of the individual living spaces/ bedrooms are located on the ground floor and thus suitable for those individuals with a physical disability as there is no lift. There is one room upstairs.

 

One of the ground floor bedrooms is linked to the annexe which has a lounge and an ensuite shower room/toilet. This is utilised in the main by guests who have more complex needs and behavioural issues. There is a dining room and large lounge on the ground floor. In the main house there are two bathrooms, one shower room and five toilets.

 

All guests are encouraged to enjoy their stay together by abiding to ‘house rules’ which they have devised themselves and are displayed prominently in the entrance hall. There was also a picture frame containing photographs of all the individuals who have stayed at Errol House which was a really nice touch.

 

Errol House is situated in a small, but busy town and there are plenty of local amenities. Errol House is very much part of the local community and individuals on short breaks will often avail themselves of local pubs and cafes with support.

 

Leeds is also quite close by and there are regular outings to the ‘beautiful octopus club’ a night club run by people with learning disabilities for people with learning disabilities. There are also regular trips to Temple Newsam Estate, Lotherton Hall and the White Rose Centre.

 

As mentioned in the introduction not all the individuals who visit Errol House House are on the autistic spectrum although some are. One member of staff in particular is experienced in working with individuals with autism and he has offered ‘in house’ training to all the other staff members. It being a short break service the staff at Errol House are often reliant on the information supplied by families and the placing authority. Barbara (Registered Manager) did state that they have excellent links with Leeds Speech and Language Department should they need to access support and information quickly.

 

 The Manager attends the Leeds Partnership Board Meetings and Leeds have recently developed a separate Autsim Board.

 

Due to the fact that individuals are only at Errol House for short periods it is very rare that individuals will have to attend hospital appointments, but should an individual need to attend hospital or the local General Practitioners surgery they will be supported to do so. The Wilf Ward Family Trust does not have an in house clinical team or any Dietician or Nutritionist to call upon, however, support from the local health services was confirmed by Barbara (Registered Manager) to have been very positive.

 

Regulated support relating to personal care of individuals staying at Errol House includes bathing and washing, personal hygiene, dressing and undressing, meals, food and diet, assisting with eating, mobility, incontinence management, medication administration, occupational or physiotherapy rehabilitation programmes, dental care and oral hygiene.

 

Some care and support is more specialist. Specific training is provided for staff in these areas before they can commence with duties such as artificial feeding administration, of ear and eye drops administration, of rectal medication, catheter care, colostomy care and changing bags.
 

Over 50 individuals take short breaks at Errol House throughout the year 12 of whom are on the autistic spectrum. An individual’s stay is planned prior to their arrival using a ‘Holiday Planner’ which looks in detail at what activities they would like to be involved in, what foods they like and any other needs and requests. All guests have individual Personal Care Plans.

 

Some individuals who stay at Errol House do occasionally exhibit some challenging behaviour, however, this seems to have been quite low level more recently and, at the time of the visit, there was no need for extra robustness such as ‘boxed in’ television sets for example.

 

I met several individuals as I was shown round the house; there was a very relaxed atmosphere and the four people I saw seemed very much content.

 

Individuals accessing the service are invited to ‘Guest Council’ meetings which run on a weekly basis and guests staying at the home are supported to discuss any issues relating to the home.

 

Errol House staff access The Wilf Ward Family Trust’s training department who provide training in Safeguarding, First Aid, Infection Control, Food Hygiene, Epilepsy Management and Moving and Handling. No member of staff is allowed to work at the home without a Criminal Records Bureau check although they can commence their induction if they have had a recent check performed and can ‘shadow’ if two verified references have been supplied. In-house training on autism is provided when and as required.

 

Staff are issued with a staff handbook upon commencement of employment and can access the Wilf Ward Family Trust intranet site to keep up to date with any changes in policies etc.

 

Staff members receive formal supervision every 6 to 8 weeks. The staffing ratio is generally maintained as 3 staff to 6 guests although this is flexible depending on the needs of the individual guests.
 

As previously mentioned Barbara Dowling is the Registered Manager at Errol House. Barbara has worked for the Wilf Ward Family Trust for 19 years, she holds an NVQ level 4 Registered Manager’s award and NVQ4 in Social Care.

 

Staff members do undertake ‘complex needs and behaviours’ training as part of their induction and this includes some ‘breakaway’ techniques and low level physical intervention; however, only a few individuals who access the short breaks service have any physical intervention element written into their Care Plan or Complex Needs and Behaviours Risk Assessment.

 

Errol House has a complaint procedure for the individuals residing there and this is available in several formats including picture form.

 

 I found the Registered Manager and staff to be very open, helpful and friendly and the house to be comfortable and inviting. The home has been open since 1999 and seems to have become very much part of the community. Although not an autism specific placement, there are currently a dozen individuals with autism who regularly access the short breaks service and I felt the staff I spoke to demonstrated a good understanding of autism and also in understanding that people with autism can have differing needs just as any other person.

 

I would see the service as being excellent at catering for the needs of individuals with autism and additional physical and /or learning disabilities and also potentially health or medical needs, but less suited to individuals with high levels of challenging behaviour.

 

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Visiting Officer - Craig Godding 
Director of Compliance and Client Liaison, Living Autism