Archived: Alyson House

Alyson House provides accommodation and support for up to a maximum of nine people who have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection they were nine people living in the service.

The service is required to and did have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff delivered support effectively and care was provided in a way that intended to promote people’s independence and wellbeing, whilst people’s safety was ensured. Staff were recruited and employed upon completion of appropriate checks as part of a robust recruitment process. Sufficient numbers of staff enabled people’s individual needs to be met adequately. Qualified staff dispensed medications and monitored people’s health satisfactorily.

Staff understood their responsibilities and how to keep people safe. People’s rights were also protected because management and staff understood the legal framework of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

The registered manager and staff ensured access to healthcare services were readily available to people and worked with a range of health professionals, such as social workers, community mental health nurses and GPs to implement care and support plans.

Staff were respectful and compassionate towards people ensuring privacy and dignity was valued. People were supported in a person centred way by staff who understood their roles in relation to encouraging independence whilst mitigating potential risks. People were supported to identify their own interests and pursue them with the assistance of staff. Person centred social activities took place within the service as well as in the community.

Systems were in place to make sure that people’s views were gathered. These included regular meetings, direct interactions with people and questionnaires being distributed to people, relatives and healthcare professionals. The service was assisted to run effectively by the use of quality monitoring audits the manager carried out, which identified any improvements needed. A complaints procedure was in place and had been implemented appropriately by the management team.

Staff were supported to carry out their roles and had received a range of training, regular supervision, annual appraisal and attended regular staff meetings.

People had the opportunity to enjoy good levels of activity and, with staff support, were able to get out and about in the local community.

We saw that people's care and support was planned and reviewed regularly. Risks to the health, welfare and safety of the person were identified and managed.

People using the service told us that they were satisfied with how they were treated, with the level of support provided and with the facilities and activities available. One person told us, "The staff are good, I like the staff.' 'I like it here at Alyson House and I don't want to move out.' Another person told us, 'The food is excellent I get a choice of meals and the staff are nice.' One person said, 'I like my room, staff keep it clean for me and I have my own things in my room which I like.'