At the time of our inspection, there were seven people using the service. During our visit, all seven people were on a day out at the beach. During our inspection, the manager was unable to provide us with evidence of staff training. The provider told us that staff had received the training, but that they needed additional time to request the certificates from the training centre. We agreed to give the provider extra time to provide this evidence, and this evidence was considered as part of the inspection on 17 June 2014. In addition, we asked the manager of the service to supply the contact details of people's advocates and family members. However, this information was not provided to us in a timely manner, so we were unable to consider it as evidence during this inspection. We spoke to the provider about this, who told us they never received the request. We looked at the care records for six of the seven people who were using the service at the time of our inspection. In addition, we reviewed audit records, complaints records, incident records and staff records. We considered our inspection findings to answer five key questions we always ask; Is the service safe? Is the service effective? Is the service caring? Is the service responsive? and is the service well led?
Below is a summary of what we found during our inspection;
Is the service safe?
We found that each person had detailed care plans setting out information about them, and instructions for staff on how to meet their needs. This meant we could be assured there were systems in place which were being used to protect people from unsafe or inappropriate care.
We found that the service was following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, where a person lacked the capacity to make decisions, for five of the six people whose records we reviewed. However, the provider may find it useful to note that there was no mental capacity assessment for one person where this would have been appropriate. There were systems in place to ensure that people were protected from the risk of unlawful decisions being made on their behalf.
During a previous inspection of the service, we identified that staff did not have the appropriate training in key principles relating to care. The service provided us with an action plan, telling us how they would rectify this issue. However, we found that during this inspection, the manager of the service could not provide us with evidence of staff having had essential training. We gave the provider additional time after our inspection visit to provide evidence of staff training. The provider was able to provide us with this information, to evidence that staff had received the appropriate training. This meant that the provider had ensured that staff were suitably trained to support people using the service.
Is the service effective?
The service did not have audits in place to identify issues so they could action these in a timely manner. For example, there was no process or procedure in place to identify when staff needed to renew their training.
We saw evidence to support that people were given the opportunity to speak about their care and support at monthly care plan approach meetings. This meant we were assured that people had the opportunity to voice their opinions.
Is the service caring?
We found that records contained information about people such as their past history and their goals for the future. Records demonstrated that staff supported people to be independent and achieve their goals. One person had been supported to learn how to make themselves drinks, and this had been one of their goals.
Is the service responsive?
Records showed that people who used the service were supported to receive input from health professionals in a timely manner.
We found that the provider had processes and procedures in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of these policies and procedures, and were aware of how to raise concerns. This meant we were assured that people were protected from the risks of abuse.
Is the service well-led?
During our inspection, we observed that records we requested were not readily available and it took the manager and other staff some time to find the records we had requested. These included policies and audits linked to quality assurance. This meant that at the time of our inspection, we could not be assured that the service was well led in a way that assured us there was effective and clear managerial oversight in place. A compliance action has been set in relation to this and the provider must tell us how they plan to improve.