Archived: Old Farmhouse

Updated 26 February 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 19 January 2016 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

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.

Before our inspection we reviewed information held about the service. We looked at our own system to see if we had received any concerns or compliments about the home. We analysed information on statutory notifications we had received from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We spoke with the local authority and Healthwatch for their views about the home. We used this information to help us plan our inspection of the home.

During the inspection we spoke with one person who was able to give us their opinion of what it was like to live at the home. We spoke with two relatives. We also spoke with three care staff, the registered manager and the home’s manager. We viewed information in two people’s care records which related to consent, medicines, assessment of risk and people’s needs. We also viewed other records which related to staff training and recruitment and the management of the home.

We observed people’s care and support in the communal areas of the home and how staff interacted with people.

Updated 26 February 2016

This inspection took place on 19 January 2016 and was unannounced. At our previous inspection no improvements were identified as needed.

Old Farmhouse is registered to provide accommodation with nursing and personal care to a maximum of five people who have a learning disability. There were three people living at the home on the day of our inspection.

The home has a registered manager who was present for some of our inspection. They do not currently have responsibility for the day to day management of the home and a temporary manger was 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.

People were supported by staff who understood their needs and provided the care and support they needed safely. Staff had been trained to recognise and report signs of harm and abuse and were confident to report concerns if they arose.

People were supported by enough staff and arrangements were in place if more staff were ever needed so that people were supported safely at all times. People’s medicines were managed safely by staff who were trained to administer it and understood the procedures they must follow.

People’s right to make their own decisions about their own care and treatment were supported by staff. Where people were unable to make their own decisions these were made in their best interests by people who knew them.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and had good relationships with them. Staff made sure people were involved in their own care and made sure information was given to them in a way they could understand. Staff were skilled at communicating with people and gave people enough time for them to communicate their wishes and express themselves.

Staff supported people to maintain a healthy balanced diet and supported them to make their own choices about what they wanted to eat and drink. People received healthcare when they needed it and routine healthcare appointments were kept up to date.

Staff encouraged and supported people to be as independent as they could be. People were treated with kindness and staff respected people’s right to privacy and dignity.

People received care and support that was individual to them and met their current and changing needs. Care and support needs were regularly reviewed with people and relatives were kept up to date on what was happening in their family member’s lives. People were supported to do the things that they enjoyed doing with their spare time.

Staff made sure people were able to express their views and opinions on the support they received to make sure they had support that was personal to them. People, relatives and staff were encouraged to give their opinions which would help make any improvements within the home

Staff were keen to make sure the people they supported received a quality service. Staff understood their roles and knew what was expected of them to make sure that people received a service which met their needs and benefitted them.

The provider had not notified us of a change of management arrangements but this had not impacted on the service people and staff received. There were systems were in place to monitor and assess the quality of service provided and improvements were made when needed.