Archived: Care Management Group - 31 Egmont Road

31, Egmont Road is a 'care home' providing personal care and accommodation to people living with moderate to complex learning disabilities. The service can support up to six people. The care home accommodated five people the time of this inspection in one adapted building. There was a mix of male and female adults who had been living in the home for more than two years and up to ten years for some people. Their ages ranged from mid 20s to middle age.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and / or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found:

Relatives told us people were safe living in this home and that staff were kind to people.

Staff received training to do with safeguarding adults that helped them keep up to date with best practice. Staff followed clear safeguarding procedures that helped to protect people from harm.

Risks to people, including those associated with their healthcare needs, were assessed and plans were in place to reduce them.

Whistleblowing procedures were in place and displayed on notice boards for all to see. Staff told us they were confident any concerns they reported would be dealt with appropriately.

Appropriate infection control procedures were in place and staff received training with food hygiene.

Staff rotas and staffing levels were appropriate to meet people's needs and safe recruitment practices were in place.

People’s medicines were stored, administered, recorded and audited appropriately. The provider had appropriate policies and procedures in place to support people safely with their medicines as prescribed.

Comprehensive needs assessments were carried out and there was sufficient detail and personalisation in the care plan to ensure the person's needs were met in a personalised way.

The manager ensured staff completed training to ensure they were able to meet people’s needs effectively. Support was provided appropriately for staff with regards to their professional roles.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Records showed people were supported to have their health needs met, with access to health professionals as required.

Relatives of people told us their relationships with the staff team was good. They said their privacy and dignity was respected. They also said they were able to express their views and preferences and staff responded appropriately.

There were systems in place to ensure concerns and complaints were responded to in an appropriate way.

Quality assurance processes were in place that monitored practice and procedure by staff, however some improvements in developing the quality assurance systems were needed and the provider was in agreement with this. The provider worked collaboratively with other agencies and organisations to meet people’s needs.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at the last inspection

At the last inspection the service was rated Good (27 January 2017published ).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection in line with our inspection schedule.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

31, Egmont Road provides care and accommodation for up to six people with moderate to severe learning disabilities. On the day of the inspection six people lived at the home.

The service had 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.

Relatives told us they felt people were well cared for and safe living at 31, Egmont Road. This view was confirmed by the health and social care professionals we spoke with. Staff knew how to help protect people if they suspected they were at risk of abuse or harm. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed. Staff knew how to minimise risks and manage identified hazards in order to help keep people safe from harm or injury.

There were sufficient numbers levels of staff to meet people’s needs. This was endorsed by the relatives of people we spoke with.

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

Staff 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 appropriate applications were made by the provider to the local authorities for those people who needed them. Staff supported people to make choices and decisions about their care wherever they had the capacity to do so.

People had a varied and nutritious diet and choice of meals. They were supported to stay healthy by staff who were aware of people’s healthcare needs and through regular monitoring by healthcare professionals. Relatives and professionals told us staff were consistently kind and caring and established positive relationships with people and their families. Staff valued people, treated them with respect and promoted their rights, choice and independence.

Staff understood family and friends were important to people and ensured they were appropriately involved in people's care, as required. People and their relatives were informed and supported to access independent advocacy services if they needed someone to speak up about their care on their behalf.

Comprehensive care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and had been produced jointly with relatives and where possible people using the service. Relatives told us they agreed the care plans and were fully involved in making decisions about their family member’s support.

People participated in a range of activities within the home and in the community and received the support they needed to help them to do this.

There was a complaints procedure in place and relatives felt confident to raise any concerns either with the staff or the registered manager if they needed to. The complaints procedure was available in different formats so that it was accessible to everyone.

There were systems in place to monitor the care provided and people's views and opinions were sought regularly. Suggestions for change were listened to by the provider and actions were taken to improve the service provided.

We were able to observe that people's experience of the service was a positive one. During our inspection we saw staff always treated people with respect and dignity and people were supported to make informed decisions about how they lived their lives. We saw the methods used to help people communicate and make choices, for example, we saw the pictures used to help people choose what activities they wanted to take part in and the food they would like to eat.

We also gathered evidence of people's experiences of the service by speaking to the new manager and other staff who worked in the home and reviewing various records the provider was required to keep. Staff we spoke with told us they liked working at 31 Egmont Road, one staff member told us 'I love it, I like to spend time with people and let them know I am there for them'.

We saw that policies 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.

People living at the home had limited communication abilities and were unable to tell us their views. However, we were able to observe one person using the service throughout the inspection, how she interacted with staff and with her relative who was visiting.

We were unable to see if care staff at the home had a qualification such as NVQ Level 2 relevant to their work. However, the provider did ensure that all staff had proper induction training, and other training to enable them to deliver care to an appropriate standard. We found that staff were not receiving adequate levels of individual supervision to support them in their role.

A relative told us that the manager had improved care at the home since coming into post. She said "I trust him" and that she hoped the service would continue improving. The proprietor might like to note that she felt it would help to meet other relatives of people using the service.

We found that support plans were person centred and focused on people's needs and preferances.