A CARE home near Andover has maintained its ‘good’ rating for the supported living service it provides following a visit from the care watchdog.

Enham Trust recently welcomed inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to review its Care and Support at Home service, including its independent living facility at Coopers Chase, in Newbury Road, Enham Alamein, which is currently home to 10 residents.

The visit was carried out at 24 hours notice, taking place from July 9-11, with the report then published on August 30.

It gave the service a ‘good’ rating in each of the five categories that were assessed, preserving the rating that was awarded following a previous visit in October 2016.

Coopers Chase supports disabled people by helping them to live more independently and develop essential living skills to transition into independent living accommodation.

The CQC report found that the facility achieves this, with one resident telling inspectors: “I get help with my cooking and they let me do what I can which is how I like it.”

Others added, “they support me to be independent and encourage me to do as much as possible,” and “they encourage me to keep my independence and don’t interfere if I want to do something myself.”

Staff were also found to be caring and respectful, with residents said to be happy with the way they were treated. Inspectors were told, “they know me really well”, and “I think of them as friends” and “I’ve known some of them for years.”

A link forged by Enham Trust with a care staff agency meant that in the absence of regular employees, the same agency staff were consistently used. This helped to minimise disruption for residents.

“We did have agency staff,” said one person, “but always the same people, so it was fine.”

The CQC report did pinpoint some areas in which residents were less positive.

One person said they had not had a care plan since 2015. However, after looking into the situation inspectors found that a care plan was in place, but the recipient had declined to sign it and was awaiting a further assessment before agreeing to it.

In another case — and while other people said staff were “thoughtful and considerate at all times” — another resident did not find staff to be caring or understanding of their needs.

The person added: “I need proper help and they don’t listen to me at all.”

The concerns were brought to the attention of the provider so that the issues could be resolved.

Heath Gunn, chief executive officer at Enham Trust, welcomed the news of the ‘good’ rating. He said: “I’m delighted with the positive recognition this latest report gives us.

“Our care at home services enable disabled people to gain independence whilst being supported, which is of paramount importance to what we do at Enham Trust.”