St Bonaventures

Updated 24 March 2018

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 13 and 14 February 2018 and the first day was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an inspection manager.

Before our inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service such as notifications and previous inspection reports. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. Because this inspection was brought forward from its scheduled date, we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted Manchester local authority commissioning, safeguarding and public health teams to obtain their view of the service and to collect information they held such as safeguarding referrals and infection control audits. We did not receive any feedback from them. We also contacted Manchester Healthwatch who told us they had not received any feedback about this service so far. Healthwatch is an organisation responsible for ensuring the voice of users of health and care services are heard by those commissioning, delivering and regulating services.

We spoke with four people, the registered manager and three support staff. Throughout the inspection, we observed the way staff supported and interacted with people. We looked at the environment and the standard of accommodation offered to people as well as records relating to the management of the service; these included two care files, medication administration records (MARs) for two people, one staff recruitment file, staff training records, minutes of staff and residents meetings and policies and procedures.

Updated 24 March 2018

St Bonaventures is a residential care home for up to seven people with learning difficulties and autism. The service is located in a large adapted detached house; accommodation is provided on the ground and first floors. The service does not have a passenger lift.

At our last inspection in February 2016 we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going 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.

The atmosphere at St Bonaventures was comfortable and homely. People appeared happy and comfortable in their surroundings and with the entire staff team.

People told us they felt safe living at St Bonaventures and from our observations, speaking with staff and the records we looked at during our inspection confirmed this. The provider ensured there were adequate systems in place to help ensure people were safeguarded. For example, we saw recruitment processes were robust, enough staff were deployed to support people’s needs, medications were stored and administered appropriately and regular environmental and equipment checks were carried out.

The service worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and made appropriate applications for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The registered manager was awaiting the outcome of their most recent applications from the local authority. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff personnel and training records showed that staff had the relevant skills and experience to carry out their role effectively and received regular support from their line manager in the form of supervisions and staff meetings.

From our observations, we found that people were well cared for by a well-established staff team who knew them well and understood their support needs. People told us they liked the staff and we saw they had good relationships with them. Staff’s approach was very caring and empathetic and we saw that they carried out their duties in a friendly yet professional way.

The service responded to people’s needs by ensuring care plans were person-centred and contained relevant and up-to-date information. Information was communicated to people in a format that they could understand and people were able to engage in activities within the home and in the community that were meaningful and enjoyable to them.

While we saw no complaints had been recorded we saw the service had procedures in place to ensure any concern or complaint raised would be dealt with appropriately.

The staff team worked well together. Staff were very complimentary about the registered manager and the board of trustees. The registered manager felt supported by the trustees and staff.

There were policies and procedures in place and regular staff meetings were held to help ensure staff were supported to undertake their role effectively.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.