We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of Clifton House over two days on 3 and 4 February 2016. Clifton House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 23 people. The home supports people with enduring mental health needs. The premises provide accommodation over three floors, including two self-contained flats for supporting people to prepare to move on to more independent accommodation. At the time of the inspection there were 20 people living at the home.
The home is required to have 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. The current home manager was not registered with the Commission but had applied to register as manager.
At the last inspection of the home in September 2013 the home was meeting Regulations and standards prevailing at that time.
Staff received regular training in safeguarding adults and were aware of how to report any concerns. Procedures and information about potential abuse had also been discussed with people at residents’ meetings.
The building had been risk assessed, identifying any potential hazards. Action had been taken to make sure the premises were managed safely.
Risk assessments had also been completed with respect to ensuring that care and support of people was managed safely. There were well-developed systems for both reporting and analysing any incidents or accidents that occurred in the home.
There were robust staff recruitment procedures followed to make sure competent staff were employed to work with people. All the required checks had been carried out with records of checks in place.
The home had sufficient staff deployed to meet the needs of people accommodated.
Medicines were managed safely in the home.
The staff team were well-trained and there were systems in place to make sure staff received training when required. Making sure staff received update training was to be taken forward by the new manager.
The home was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It had not been necessary to make any referrals to the local authority for people to be deprived of their liberty.
People’s consent was gained for how they were cared for and supported.
Staff were supported through one to one supervision and annual appraisals.
People were provided with a good standard of food and their nutritional needs were met.
People were positive about the staff team and the good standards of care provided in the home. People’s privacy and dignity were respected.
Care planning was effective and up to date, making sure people’s needs were met.
The home provided a programme of activities to keep people meaningfully occupied.
The home had a well-publicised complaints policy and people had confidence that any complaint would be taken seriously and responded to.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality of service provided to people.
There was good leadership of the home and a positive ethos and culture prevailing in the home.