Archived: Ahava

Updated 10 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 the 2 February 2016 by one inspector and was unannounced.

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we had collected about the service. The service had sent us notifications about injuries and safeguarding investigations. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

During our inspection we observed care and support in communal areas. We spoke with five people who lived in the home and received feedback from four relatives of people who use the services. We spoke with the manager of the home and three staff in private. We contacted a range of health and social care professionals and received information about the home from the local authority safeguarding lead and a GP.

We looked at three people’s records and records that were used by staff to monitor their care. In addition we looked at three staff recruitment and training files. We also looked at duty rosters, menus and records used to measure the quality of the services that included health and safety audits.

Updated 10 March 2016

This inspection took place on the 2 February 2016 and was unannounced.

Ahava is a care home which is registered to provide care (without nursing) for up to ten people with a learning disability. The home is a large detached building situated on a village style development together with other similar care homes run by the provider. It is situated some distance from local amenities and public transport. Four people live in self-contained flats. One flat is occupied by two people. At the time of the inspection there were seven people living in the care home. Three of the people needed care and support from staff at all times whilst four others were more independent and received support according to their needs.

The manager had recently received their certificate of registration. 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.

The recruitment and selection process ensured people were supported by staff of good character. There was a sufficient amount of qualified and trained staff to meet people’s needs safely. Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had about the care and welfare of people to protect them from abuse.

People were provided with effective care from a dedicated staff team who had received support through supervision, staff meetings and training. Their care plans detailed how they wanted their needs to be met. Risk assessments identified risks associated with personal and specific behavioural and/or health related issues. They helped to promote people’s independence whilst minimising the risks. Staff treated people with kindness and respect and had regular contact with people’s families to make sure they were fully informed about the care and support their relative received.

The service had taken the necessary action to ensure they were working in a way which recognised and maintained people’s rights. They understood the relevance of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and consent issues which related to the people in their care.

Staff were supported to receive the training and development they needed to care for and support people’s individual needs. People received good quality care. The provider had a system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. This was generally undertaken by care home managers through internal audits, through care reviews and requesting feedback from people and their representatives.