The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated SignHealth Longley Road in South London as outstanding for the first time, following an inspection that finished in October last year.
SignHealth Longley Road, run by SignHealth, is a specialist residential care home. It provides long-term care for Deaf adults with mental health needs, learning disabilities, or both. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting six Deaf people with mental health needs.
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, SignHealth Longley Road has been rated outstanding overall. CQC has raised the service’s ratings for caring from good to outstanding. CQC has rated it outstanding again for being effective, and good again for being safe, responsive and well-led.
Catriona Eglinton, CQC deputy director of adult social care in south London, said:
“When we inspected SignHealth Longley Road, we found a service putting people’s voices, rights, and ambitions at the heart of its work. We found a strong and approachable leadership team who supported staff to consistently deliver outstanding, person-centred care in line with the right support, right care, right culture guidance, so everyone felt truly involved and valued.
“We saw staff deliver care that respected each person’s unique communication needs and cultural identity. All staff were fluent in British Sign Language (BSL), and almost all were Deaf themselves. Staff used BSL and visual aids to share information clearly and support people to express their views and make choices about their care. They created an environment where people could communicate freely and feel genuinely understood.
“People and their families spoke positively about the quality of care and support provided. People had choice in their care and were encouraged to maintain relationships with family, friends, local community and religious groups. They spoke positively about activities and outings, saying there was always something to do that matched their interests.
“We were impressed with how staff treated people with kindness and compassion. They had developed strong, trusting relationships with the people they supported and their families. They didn't just help people live safely but helped them live their lives fully. Staff researched and arranged enrolment at a specialist deaf college for one person. They also encouraged and supported people to develop practical life skills such as cooking or traveling independently.
“All of the staff at SignHealth Longley Road should be really proud of the exceptional care they delivered. Other services should look at this report as an example of outstanding practice, particularly in supporting Deaf people, to promote improvements across the sector and to support people to lead their best lives.”
Inspectors also found:
- The service worked closely with hospitals to support safe, well-planned transitions into the community for people who previously lived in hospital or secure mental health settings.
- Staff proactively trained local health professionals and the local authority in Deaf culture awareness, removing barriers to equality and advocating for people's rights.
- Staff supported people's cultural and religious needs, liaising with community leaders to find accessible places of worship with BSL interpretation.
- The service used technology to enhance safety and independence, including visual flashing lights and vibrating pager systems to alert Deaf residents to fire alarms.
- SignHealth Longley Road was developing a new digital care-planning system designed to be fully accessible for Deaf users, with BSL video capability and visual prompts.