Sansa House in Basingstoke, Hampshire was rated outstanding for being effective and caring following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), on 16 & 17 January 2020.
The safe, responsive and well-led categories received a score of Good.
Sansa House is a residential care home providing personal care to five people living with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and/or mental health needs.
The service took a truly holistic approach to assessing people's needs, including the support they would need at different times of the day and during different activities.
The service could evidence how the support they provided to people achieved very positive outcomes, improving people's abilities to communicate their needs, reducing incidents involving behaviours which may challenge and building life skills. This resulted in people having an improved quality of life.
Professionals were keen to discuss that the service supported people to achieve outstanding outcomes and one said, "We all feel as a team that the staff we have met need to be copied and placed in other services as role models as they are simply outstanding. They show they have good leadership and trust from the managers in order to achieve this."
Staff had training and were skilled in using Makaton, a way of communicating that uses signs and symbols with spoken language for people with communication difficulties. The service had Makaton guides and a ‘word of the week’ displayed in the home which was suggested by people or staff, to help people and staff learn more words. Staff taught and encouraged people to use Makaton signs, as well as words, to increase their ability to express their views and needs to staff and their friends and families.
The staff team were particularly skilled at exploring and resolving conflict and managing differing views to ensure people's best interests were followed and their opinions and views were held in highest regard.
