5 November 2014
During a routine inspection
Liverpool Grove provides accommodation and support for up to five adults who have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection three people were using the service.
At our last inspection on 2 December 2013 the service met the regulations we inspected.
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. They were not available on the day of the inspection but we spoke with them after our inspection. The service had an additional manager in post managing the day to day running of the service who was available on the day of our inspection.
An appropriate environment was not provided to people who used the service. There were ongoing concerns regarding the premises and we saw that work and maintenance was required to provide an environment that met people’s needs. We found a breach of the regulation relating to the safety and suitability of premises. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
There were sufficient numbers of staff to support people. Staff had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs, and these were regularly reviewed and updated through attendance at training courses, supervision sessions and appraisals.
Staff were knowledgeable about people’s support needs and the information contained in people’s support plans. Staff were aware of people’s communication methods and took the time to support people to express their wishes and make decisions about their care. People were happy and relaxed at the service and told us they appreciated the support provided to them by the staff.
Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures. Any concerns regarding a person’s safety was escalated to either their manager or the person’s social worker so that appropriate action could be taken to maintain the person’s safety and welfare. Management plans were in place to address any risks identified to the people using the service.
People were supported to access healthcare appointments. Staff followed the guidance and advice provided by healthcare specialists about how to meet people’s physical health needs.
There had been a number of changes in management of the service over the last year. However, the staff and other health and social care professionals involved in people’s care felt the current manager provided stability and leadership at the service. Processes were in place to support staff to express their views and opinions, and they were encouraged to speak up if they felt areas of service delivery could be improved. There were systems in place to check the quality of the service provided and action was taken as required when areas requiring improvement were identified.