Archived: Care Management Group - 44 Albion Road

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Relatives told us they felt their family members were safe living at Albion Road. Staff knew how to protect people if they suspected they were at risk of abuse or harm. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed and staff knew how to minimise and manage identified hazards in order to help keep people safe from harm or injury.

Appropriate staff recruitment processes helped to ensure people were protected. We saw there were enough properly trained and well supported staff to meet people’s needs.

People received their medicines as prescribed and staff knew how to manage medicines safely.

Relatives and social care professionals told us people received effective care. Staff had access to a wide range of training and they were supported with regular and structured supervision.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive ways possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). DoLS provides a process to make sure people are only deprived of their liberty in a safe and correct way. There were policies in place in relation to this and the service had ensured the local authorities had carried out the appropriate assessments for people who might have been deprived of their liberty. Staff supported people to make choices and decisions about their care wherever they had the capacity to do so.

People were supported to have a varied and balanced diet and food that they enjoyed and they were enabled to eat and drink well and stay healthy.

Staff supported people to keep healthy and well through regular monitoring of their health and wellbeing.

Relatives and social care professionals told us staff were kind and caring. We saw staff treated people with dignity, respect and compassion. Staff understood people’s needs and helped them to express their views and wishes where ever possible.

People were encouraged to maintain relationships that were important to them. Relatives said they were made to feel welcome when they visited the home.

Care plans were in place which reflected people’s specific needs and their individual choices. Relatives of people were involved in reviewing their relations’ care plans and we saw people were supported to make decisions about their care and support.

People had access to their local community and could choose to participate in a variety of in-house and community based social activities. We also saw staff encouraged and supported people to be as independent as they could and wanted to be.

People using the service and their relatives were encouraged to give feedback on the service and there was an effective complaints system in place.

Relatives said the registered manager encouraged feedback and sought to develop and improve the service for people. Staff told us they felt well supported and enjoyed working in a positive environment.

Staff told us they were clear about their roles and responsibilities and they had a good understanding of the ethos of the service.

Systems were in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service and to get the views of people about the quality of the service. These measures of monitoring the service has helped to make improvements were necessary.

Further information is in the detailed findings below

44, Albion Road is a care home that provided care and support for seven men who have severe or profound learning disabilities and autism.

The service has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 the associated Regulations about how a service is run.

Relatives told us they felt their family members were safe living at Albion Road. Staff knew how to protect people if they suspected they were at risk of abuse or harm. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed and staff knew how to minimise and manage identified hazards in order to help keep people safe from harm or injury.

Appropriate staff recruitment processes helped to ensure people were protected. We saw there were enough properly trained and well supported staff to meet people’s needs.

People received their medicines as prescribed and staff knew how to manage medicines safely.

Relatives and social care professionals told us people received effective care. Staff had access to a wide range of training and they were supported with regular and structured supervision.

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). DoLS provides a process to make sure people are only deprived of their liberty in a safe and correct way. There were policies in place in relation to this and the service had ensured the local authorities had carried out the appropriate assessments for people who might have been deprived of their liberty. Staff supported people to make choices and decisions about their care wherever they had the capacity to do so.

People were supported to have a varied and balanced diet and food that they enjoyed and they were enabled to eat and drink well and stay healthy.

Staff supported people to keep healthy and well through regular monitoring of their health and wellbeing.

Relatives and social care professionals told us staff were kind and caring. We saw staff treated people with dignity, respect and compassion. Staff understood people’s needs and helped them to express their views and wishes where ever possible.

People were encouraged to maintain relationships that were important to them. Relatives said they were made to feel welcome when they visited the home.

Care plans were in place which reflected people’s specific needs and their individual choices. Relatives of people were involved in reviewing their relations’ care plans and we saw people were supported to make decisions about their care and support.

People had access to their local community and could choose to participate in a variety of in-house and community based social activities. We also saw staff encouraged and supported people to be as independent as they could and wanted to be.

People using the service and their relatives were encouraged to give feedback on the service and there was an effective complaints system in place.

Relatives said the registered manager encouraged feedback and sought to develop and improve the service for people. Staff told us they felt well supported and enjoyed working in a positive environment.

Staff told us they were clear about their roles and responsibilities and they had a good understanding of the ethos of the service.

Systems were in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service and to get the views of people about the quality of the service. These measures of monitoring the service has helped to make improvements were necessary.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service because some of the people who lived at this care home had complex needs, which meant they were not always able to communicate with us. During our inspection we saw that people were occupied with chores around the home for example helping with the laundry or in the kitchen. People told us about the daily chores they were involved in one person told us 'I keep the kitchen tidy' and another said 'I help with the cooking and laundry'. We saw how staff supported people to do their own laundry and cleaning tasks.

We were able to observe that people's experience of the service was a positive one. One staff member told us 'this place is very good for me; if the people here are happy then I am happy'. We saw staff treated people with respect and dignity and people were supported to make informed decisions about how they lived their lives. We also gathered evidence of people's experiences of the service by speaking to the registered manager and other staff who worked in the home and reviewing various records the provider is required to keep.

We saw that polices and procedures had been put in place to ensure the safety and well being of people using the service and we saw evidence of a quality assurance system regularly monitored by the provider.