Oaklands

Updated 11 October 2024

Oaklands is a care home providing residential and nursing care for up to 15 adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. At the time of the inspection there were 15 people living at the home. The dates of assessment were 22 October 2024 to 30 October 2024. This assessment was carried out in response to information received about the service relating to care and treatment, staffing and the management of the service. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. We assessed a number of quality statements from each key question. We have combined the scores for these areas with scores from the last inspection to give the rating for this assessment. The service has been rated requires improvement following this assessment. Medicines were not always managed safely. Whilst medicine records assured us residents were receiving their oral medicines as prescribed, we found documents to support the safe administration medicines were not always in place or up to date. We found no evidence that people had been harmed. However, systems were either not in place or robust enough to demonstrate medicines were always effectively managed. This was a breach of regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of service provided and identify improvements. Whilst the registered manager carried out audits and checks; these had not identified the shortfalls we had found with safe medicines management. We have assessed the service against the ‘Right Support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make a judgement about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Risks in relation to people’s care and support were assessed.

Updated 11 October 2024

We were unable to speak to all of the people living at Oaklands. One person we spoke with was positive about the care and support they received. The person told us, “The staff are good to me” and told us about a recent incident whereby staff had been kind in their approach to supporting them. One relative told us, “We are content with the effort which goes into providing our son with a stable and fulfilled life.” During our visits to the service the interactions we observed were caring, with staff interacting with people in a person-centred way. People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood how to support and care for people appropriately. People were supported to access healthcare services to maintain their wellbeing. They were supported to eat and drink enough. One person said they enjoyed having “a hot meal every day.” People were supported by staff to plan their week and access opportunities and activities of their choice. We observed people going out throughout the day to attend their chosen activities. Several people had recently been able to go on holiday, which for some they had not been able to do for some considerable time. The service had worked hard to plan these holidays to ensure the right staff were able to support the person and the location was suitable to meet their needs.