HF Trust - Pound Lane

Updated 3 November 2018

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 service was part of one registration which included other locations. HF Trust Pound Lane was registered separately in September 2017 therefore this was the first inspection of this service under a separate registration.

This inspection took place on 18 September and was un-announced. The inspection was completed by two inspectors.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, including the Provider Information Return (PIR) which the provider completed before the inspection. The PIR 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 also reviewed the information we held about the service including safeguarding alerts and statutory notifications, which related to the service. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law.

During the inspection, we spoke with the registered manager and regional manager, two senior support staff and two care staff. We also spoke with three people that use the service. After the inspection we contacted relatives and health professionals for their feedback and their comments have been included in the report.

We reviewed three care records, medication administration records (MAR) and a selection of documents about how the service was managed. These included, staff recruitment files, induction and training schedules.

We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, complaints and compliments information, safeguarding alerts and quality monitoring and audit information.

Updated 3 November 2018

HF Trust Pound Lane is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. HF Trust Pound Lane provides care in four individual cottages on one site with three self- contained apartments. At the time of our inspection 18 people were living within the service.

The service also has a resource unit on site along with a garden centre and a pottery workshop. This enabled some people within the service to access these independently or with minimum staff support in addition to people from the community.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associate Regulations about how the service is run.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which apply to care homes. We found the provider was following the MCA code of practice.

People were safe because staff supported them to understand how to keep safe and staff knew how to manage risk effectively. There were sufficient numbers of care staff on shift with the correct skills and knowledge to keep people safe. There were appropriate arrangements in place for medicines to be stored and administered safely.

Staff had good relationships with people who used the service and were attentive to their needs. People’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

Care plans were person centred and contained information about how people preferred to communicate and their ability to make decisions.

People were encouraged to take part in activities that they enjoyed, and were supported to keep in contact with family members. When needed referrals were made to health professionals to ensure people had the appropriate care and treatment.

Relatives and staff were complimentary about the management of the service. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities in providing safe and good quality care to the people who used the service.

The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided.