Archived: Ashlea House

Updated 8 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 5 October and was announced. The registered provider was given 48 hours’ notice of our visit. This was because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure staff would be available to meet with us. The visit was completed by two adult social care inspectors.

Telephone calls were made to people and their relatives and the staff team to gather their views. These telephone calls took place on 31 October and 1 November 2016.

Before the inspection we reviewed all of the information we held about the service, this included reviewing notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to the Commission by law.

As part of the inspection process we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR), which the provider completed in August 2016. This asks them to give key information about the service, what the service does well and what improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, two team managers, three resource managers and three members of care staff. Following the inspection we spoke with a further eight members of care staff and a resource manager on the telephone.

We spoke, on the telephone, with six people who used the service and five relatives.

We reviewed six people’s care plans and associated records. We looked at medicine administration records. We reviewed records associated with the running of the service such as policies, staff files, audits, rota’s and staff meeting minutes.

Updated 8 December 2016

This comprehensive rating inspection took place on 5 October 2016 and was announced. It was the first inspection of the service since it registered in April 2014.

Ashlea House provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service offers a short term assessment and re-ablement service to support people to regain their independence after an accident, illness or disability. In addition to this the service offers end of life care to people remaining in their own home. The service currently supports older people, people living with dementia, mental health problems and a physical or sensory impairment. Support is provided to approximately 200 people.

The service had 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.

People received safe care. Staff understood how to protect people from avoidable harm and there were robust systems in place for reporting allegations of abuse. Risk assessments and risk management plans ensured staff knew how to support people as safely as possible.

Medicines were safely managed. Staff had received up to date training and the registered provider ensured medicines were audited on a regular basis which meant that they could rectify any issues in a timely manner.

There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and the registered provider operated safe systems to recruit staff.

Staff were well trained and supported which meant people were provided with effective care. Supervision and appraisals took place in line with the registered provider’s policy and staff described a supportive culture.

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 were adhered to and staff sought consent from people before they provided care and support.

People’s nutritional needs were met. Staff worked closely with health and social care professionals to ensure people received effective care.

People described a caring staff team who respected their privacy and dignity. Staff supported people to be as independent as possible. People’s emotional needs were considered alongside their physical care needs.

Care planning involved the person and their relatives and staff ensure people were involved in the monitoring of their progress.

No complaints had been made to the registered manager or provider. People we spoke with knew how to raise concerns and told us they would be confident to do so.

We found the registered provider and registered manager were running a well-led service. They had good systems in place to review and monitor the quality of the support being provided to people. The registered manager sought the views of people who used the service and ensured that staff were given the opportunity to contribute to the running of the service at regular staff meetings.