Background to this inspection
Updated
9 December 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 8 and 10 November 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service was a small care home for younger adults who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.
The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.
Before the inspection we checked the information that we held about the service and the provider. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. We used all of this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.
Before the inspection, the provider completed 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 looked at the care records for the person living in the home, three staff personnel files and records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service. We looked around the home, including the bedrooms, the kitchen, bathrooms and the lounge and dining areas. We spoke with three support staff, the registered manager, the home manager and the person living at the home. We contacted a social care professional who had involvement with the service to ask for their views.
Updated
9 December 2016
The inspection took place on 8 and 10 November 2016 and was announced.
113 Sussex Road is part of the student accommodation for people with a learning disability who attend Arden College. During the evenings and weekends educational and leisure activities are offered to the students to extend their learning and to promote independence. The home can accommodate three young people aged 16-25 and on the day of our visit there was one person living there.
The service was last inspected in January 2014 and at that time was found to be meeting standards. 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.
The staff we spoke with described how they would recognise abuse and the action they would take to ensure actual or potential harm was reported. Training records confirmed staff had undertaken safeguarding training and this was on-going.
We reviewed the way medication was managed. We saw there were systems in place to monitor medication so that people received their medicines safely.
We looked at how staff were recruited and the processes to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. We found recruitment to be well managed and thorough.
We found there were enough staff on duty each day to keep the person safe and to be able to access the community.
Staff received a regular programme of training and support, through regular supervision and appraisals. Staff were very complimentary about their manager ( house manager) who they said was very supportive.
Care was organised so any risks were assessed and plans put in place to maximise people's independence whilst help ensure people's safety.
Arrangements were in place for checking the environment to ensure it was safe. We found the environment safe and well maintained.
The service adhered to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). We saw that an assessment of the person's mental capacity was completed.
Care records showed that the person’s health care needs were addressed and contact with external health care professionals was made when needed. We saw that the house manager and staff liaised well with community services to support the person who lived in the home.
Dietary needs were managed with reference to individual preferences. Staff provided support and supervision to enable the person to choose and cook their own snacks and meals.
The person living in the home took part in a range of activities of their choice.
Care and support plans were formulated and were current to meet the person's needs. We saw that the person living in the home was involved in their care planning and decision making on a day to day basis. The person living in the home had made progress with staff in many areas towards independent living.
Staff felt they had the skills and knowledge needed to support the person in the way they required. The person living in the home was satisfied with the support they received from staff. They were pleased with the progress they had made since their admission.
There was a complaints procedure was in place. A record was made of any complaints and these had been responded to within the timescales given in the policy.
Staff were aware of the whistle blowing policy and said they would not hesitate to use it.
The home manager was able to evidence a series of quality assurance processes and audits carried out internally and externally by staff and from external agencies. These were effective in managing the home and ensuring it was a safe environment.
The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to notify Care Quality Commission (CQC) of any notifiable incidents in the home. However we found one incident had not been reported to us. We discussed this with the registered manager at the inspection.