Archived: Windsor Lodge

Updated 25 January 2017

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 unannounced comprehensive inspection took place on 20 December 2016. We returned on 21 December 2016 to complete the inspection.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) and previous inspection reports. The PIR 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 also reviewed the information we held about the service and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We spoke with six people receiving a service and five members of staff, which included the manager. We spent time talking with people and observing the interactions between them and staff.

We reviewed two people’s care files, three staff files, staff training records and a selection of policies, procedures and records relating to the management of the service. After our visit we sought feedback from relatives and health and social care professionals to obtain their views of the service provided to people. We spoke with one relative. However, we did not receive any feedback from professionals.

Updated 25 January 2017

This unannounced comprehensive inspection took place on 20 December 2016. We returned on 21 December 2016 to complete the inspection.

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service in December 2015. Breaches of legal requirements were found. We found staff had a lack of understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) (2005); there was no evidence of MCA assessments for particular decisions and care records lacked detail. This inspection found improvements had been made.

Windsor Lodge is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 11 people with a learning or physical disability. The home is separated into self-contained flats and a residential area. The home is situated in a residential area of Exmouth. At the time of our inspection there were nine people living at Windsor Lodge.

The service is currently in the process of changing to a supported living unit. An application has been received by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to change their registration to provide the regulated activity of ‘personal care’. The service is currently working with commissioners and advocates to review people’s placements and the amount of hours they are supported.

There was no registered manager at the service. 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 associated Regulations about how the service is run. The current manager had started the process of registering with the CQC.

People were safe and staff demonstrated a good understanding of what constituted abuse and how to report if concerns were raised. Measures to manage risk were as least restrictive as possible to protect people’s freedom. People’s rights were protected because the service followed the appropriate legal processes. Medicines were safely managed on people’s behalf.

Care files were personalised to reflect people’s personal preferences. Their views and suggestions were taken into account to improve the service. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet, which they enjoyed. Health and social care professionals were regularly involved in people’s care to ensure they received the care and treatment which was right for them.

Staff relationships with people were caring and supportive. Staff were motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and compassionate. People engaged in a wide variety of activities and spent time in the local community going to specific places of interest.

There were effective staff recruitment and selection processes in place. Staffing arrangements were flexible in order to meet people’s individual needs. Staff received a range of training and regular support to keep their skills up to date in order to support people appropriately.

Staff spoke positively about communication and how the manager worked well with them and encouraged their professional development.

A number of methods were used to assess the quality and safety of the service people received and make continuous improvements.