Archived: Royal Mencap Society - 7 Lingdale Road

Updated 18 August 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 20 June 2016 and was an announced visit. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a service to adults with a learning disability we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection was conducted by one adult social care inspector. We asked for information from the local authority quality assurance team before the inspection. We also looked at our own records, to see if the service had submitted statutory notifications and to see if other people had sent us feedback on the service.

During the inspection we were able to talk to two people who lived in the home and observed the support of staff. We talked with the two staff members on duty. We also talked with the registered manager and the deputy manager. Later we telephoned relatives of the people who used the service and professionals involved in their care to get their views about the service. We were able to speak to three family members.

We observed the provision of support for the majority of people who lived at the home. We reviewed a range of documentation including three care plans, medication records, and records for two permanent staff and one volunteer staff, policies and procedures, auditing records, health and safety records and other records relating to how the home was managed.

Updated 18 August 2016

This comprehensive inspection took place on 20 June 2016. 7 Lingdale Road is registered to provide personal care for a maximum of seven adults with a learning disability. The home is a three storey, detached property located in a residential area of West Kirby, Wirral. It is close to local shops and transport links to all parts of Wirral, Chester and Liverpool.

The home required 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. There was a registered manager in place who had been in post since December 2015.

We saw that some of the communal internal and eternal areas in the home looked tired, shabby and in some disrepair and would benefit from re-decoration. We noted that the manager was in the process of implementing improvements needed in the home and we saw an improvement in the systems that had been prioritised.

We found that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) 2009 legislation had been adhered to in the home. The manager told us of the people at the home who lacked capacity. We found however that the appropriate Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) applications had been submitted to the Local Authority in relation to people’s care.

The people living in the home were able to express themselves and were able to choose the way they spent their day. They were taken to activities outside the home and encouraged to keep family connections by visiting family where possible.

People had access to sufficient quantities of nutritious food and drink throughout the day and were given suitable menu choices at each mealtime, these options had been chosen by the people who lived at Royal Mencap Society, 7 Lingdale Road.

We found that staff were well trained and supported. They were able to demonstrate skill and competency in their knowledge about autism and the support people required. The people who lived at the home were clearly happy with the support that staff gave them and there was a good rapport between them.

We checked the medication cabinet which was stored in the main office. We saw that medication was given as directed and stored appropriately. We talked with staff who were able to demonstrate their knowledge of safeguarding and were able to tell us how to report abuse.

Each of the people’s bedrooms had been personalised by the people who lived in them and those who were able were able to lock their bedroom doors, choose who entered their rooms and go in and out of the front door freely.

Care records, risk assessments, staff records and other documents relating to the running of the home, were well-kept and up-to-date. Each person living at the home had a personalised care plan and risk assessment.

We found that recruitment practices were in place which included the completion of pre-employment checks prior to a new member of staff working at the service. Staff received regular training and supervision to enable them to work safely and effectively.