1 November 2011
During a routine inspection
The evidence from our observations and conversations with people living at the service indicated that people were not safe or protected from harm.
We saw that 'baffle handles' were used throughout the service. These are handles which do not operate in the way people would expect. For example they need to be pushed upwards rather than downwards. These are used to prevent people freely going into our out of different areas of the home. We saw the door handles on both sides of the bedroom doors, other internal doors and unit kitchen doors were positioned at the top of the doors. We asked staff about this and they told us this was due to two people using the service who would 'trash' other people's rooms if they were able to get in. We saw that there were a large number of people who were not tall enough to open the bedroom doors from the inside and there was no apparent method they could use to summon the help of staff. None of the bedrooms we viewed had an en-suite toilet. This means that people are at risk of being trapped in their bedroom without any method of getting help if they want to use the toilet, want a drink or something to eat or want interaction with others.
With one or two exceptions, we saw very little evidence of staff attempting to communicate with people, using methods designed for people who cannot use verbal communication.
One person using the service told us, 'sometimes they treat me like a baby, which frustrates me. Sometimes I feel like I'm invisible.'