CELDA Project Thematic Analysis Findings and Releases Risk Matrix Summary

A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the poor care received by people with learning disabilities and/or Autism in residential care homes which subsequently closed, as well as the trauma that the staff caring for them experienced whilst supporting these closures.

The risk matrix gives an indicative rating of risk for a poor care environment. This should assist in predicting the care delivered in the environment and has been developed to be completed with a short 'walk around' the service and asking questions of the staff during a routine visit.

Although the care provided to those with autism or learning disabilities in residential care homes is poor on a national level, the care has been seen to be particularly poor in care homes in the county of Norfolk.

Out of all the areas included in this data extract, Norfolk had the highest percentage of services rated 'Inadequate' at 30%, compared to regions like Cambridgeshire at 5% and Suffolk at 4%.

The 'Care Experience Improvements for People with Learning Disability and /or Autism (CELDA)' study investigated the poor care received by people with learning disabilities and/ or Autism in residential care homes which subsequently closed, alongside the trauma that the staff supporting them experienced whilst supporting these closures.

Since June 2020, the Learning Disability service at Norfolk County Council (NCC) has seen the closure of over 20 residential homes for people with a Learning Disability in Norfolk (approximately 100 vulnerable adults being affected by this). Over half of these have been due to poor care and intervention from The Care Quality Commission (CQC) or NCC. Several of these closures have been traumatic, with individuals receiving "inhumane treatment" and other alleged abuse taking place.

The staff managing these closures have had to support individuals in the care environments who have been the victims of, at minimum, poor care or have experienced abuse of some form. This study used focus groups to investigate the challenges of closing a care home using a debriefed participant cohort and a non-debriefed cohort.

A debriefing occurs in teams and is a discussion of the events in the workplace to assist learning (Evans et al., 2023). They give staff an outlet for their emotions. As there is an inconsistent practice of using debriefing for home closures, it was considered prudent to collect data surrounding the wellbeing and emotional outcomes of those who had been debriefed vs those who had not been debriefed to add to this body of work and potentially create long-term protocols within NCC related to debriefing practices.