Archived: Oak Bungalow

Updated 23 March 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 25 and 26 February 2016 and was unannounced. It was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. We also looked at notifications sent in by the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law. We looked at previous inspection reports and other information we held about the home before we visited.

At the time of this inspection there were five people using the service. During the inspection we met each person. We spoke with the registered manager, four care workers and two visitors. We looked at a sample of records relating to the running of the home and to the care of individuals. These included the care records of two people who lived at the home. We also looked at records relating to the management and administration of people’s medicines, health and safety and quality assurance.

Updated 23 March 2016

This inspection was carried out on 25 and 26 February 2016 and was unannounced.

The last inspection of the service was carried out on 27 November 2013. No concerns were identified with the care being provided to people at that inspection.

Oak Bungalow provides short stay/respite placements to adults who have a learning disability. The service comprises of four separate buildings on the same site. Oak Bungalow can accommodate up to four people. Meadow View/Shanta provides flexible accommodation as it can be combined or can provide separate accommodation depending on the needs and mix of the people staying there. Meadow View/Shanta have a total of four bedrooms. There are also two single occupancy self- contained flats. The service is staffed 24 hours a day and the deployment of staff is based on the assessed needs of the people staying there.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

At the time of our inspection we were able to meet with the five people who were using the service. The majority of the people we met with had complex learning disabilities and were not able to tell us about their experiences of life at the home. We therefore used our observations of care and our discussions with staff to help form our judgements.

Some areas of the service did not protect people from the risks associated with the control and spread of infection. The standard of décor in Oak Bungalow was poor.

People who were able, told us they felt safe. One person said “There is always a member of staff here day and night. That makes me feel really safe here and I don’t have to worry about anything.” People looked comfortable with the staff who supported them.

There was a good staff presence and staff were allocated to support people based on their skills, experience and preferences of the people using the service.

People saw health care professionals when they needed to. People’s health needs were monitored and staff implemented any recommendations made.

People needed staff to manage and administer their medicines. This was only carried out by staff that had been trained to do so. People received their medicines when they needed them and medicines were stored securely. However; we have recommended the provider reviews how medicines are administered to people who lived in buildings other than Oak Bungalow.

There were procedures in place to reduce risks to the people who lived at the home. Staff had received training and they knew how to recognise and report any signs of abuse. All were confident in reporting concerns and felt confident concerns would be taken seriously to make sure people were safe. Checks were made on prospective staff to make sure they were appropriate and safe to work with vulnerable people.

Staff knew how to make sure people’s legal and human rights were protected. They knew the procedures to follow where a person lacked the capacity to make certain decisions about their day to day lives or health care needs. This helped to ensure that decisions had been properly considered and agreed to be in the person’s best interests.

We found the service to be in breach of two of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.